Evacuation: Cancun-style (My friends made it home Tuesday)

[SoCalDem]

:)

The had nothing but kind words to say about the people who helped them survive the hurricane. They spent the entire time holed up in a grade school not too far inland.

DURING the storm, all the guests were huddled in the lobby because they feared the high rise might fall, and they wanted to be able to get out in a hurry..no electricity anyway..

All the glass in the place was broken and water started coming in the lobby, so the employees of the hotel went around ripping down drapes and tied them together..They tied the guests together and wrote on their arms in magic marker, who they were and what hotel they came from.. (my friend laughed when she told me she asked for white out instead of magic marker... she's black)... in the middle of the storm, they were led by the staff, down the road to the school..

There was plenty of canned foods at the school, but very little water, so they took turns collecting rain water in washed out trash cans (for later).. They had the clothes on their backs, and what they could stuff in their pockets before they left their rooms. they slept on a concrete floor, that they had to squeegee often (no glass in windows)...

The local people there were wonderful and shared what they had brought with my friends.. My friend and her husband shared a soggy pillow and blanket..

When the police & army arrived, they handed out water water water water, and started compiling lists of who was where, and when the buses came, people were only allowed on the buses in groups ..no one was separated, and there was no panic.. 3 seats left?..a family of 5 who was "next" would move to the back of the line or step aside so a threesome could get on..Nothing like Katrina...

When they finally made it back to their hotel, their stuff had been untouched (except by Wilma)..NO ONE LOOTED...



My friends ended up in Charlotte, used their ATM card like fiends, having left most of their waterlogged stuff behind. They washed up a bit and went shopping for new duds.. Spent the night in a luxury hotel in Charlotte, and then came home..

I can;t wait to see their pics.. They snapped away until the memory cards & batteries died ..

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Good to know

the army can be a nightmare down there, but usually they are wonderful in disasters, just like our army is wonderful in disasters

[cdsilv]

2. So a 'poor' country like Mexico

Can outdo FEMA? I remember FEMA response during Ivan - quite good, actually (it was an election year). And FEMA during the Clinton years
was quite good as well.

The GOP is turning this nation into a Third World country.

[murray hill farm]

3. It was the same here on isla mujeres...

just off the coast of cancun. i stayed here during the hurricane..with a lot of support and prayers to help me though it from my friends at DU. The Mexican govt and the mexican people were wonderful. As soon as the storm was over...the helicopters started coming...they went back and forth bringing supplies for four days...it was a constant. Within a day...the govt was out coming to houses...checking to see if you were Ok..what did you need...and if you needed it..it came to you pronto....the health dept was out the same day..coming to your house..going to every house..bringing medicine...even giving you medicine you might need..just in case..tabs to purify the water...throwing tons of mosquitto retardant into the standing water..truck going around throwing hundreds and hundreds of pkgs of food and water. the military com9ing around and cutting down leaning trees and cleaning up..even coming to the houses and asking if they could help in any way. The president of mexico was here in just a few days..and from that came hundreds and hundreds of huge cement electrical poles...we had electricity in 10 days...telephone in 7 days..and then there is that amazing spirit of the mexican people..my mexican neighbors were woeking to gether to help every one and clean up everywhere..and never missed a day to come to my house and ask if i needed anything. i have been constantly amazed and heartened by this experience..and i can not help but compare this with what happened to the people in new orleans. The USA could sure take some help in how to deal with a natural desaster from Mexico...and also from Cuba...but i just read that the usa is not interested in cooperation after all with Cuba...who wanted to coordinate efforts in hurricane desaster planning. A lot of folks have asked how they can help here...The most helpful thing anyone could do for this area is to plan your next vacation in Cancun..these folks have yet to feel the financial serious pain of job loss and financial hardship that this hurricane will bring..almost all employment for locals here is tied to the tourist industry..so, if you want to help...come here for vacation...and it really really will be a very good vacation...it is still paridise here.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Glad to hear you are fine

and from what I am readying all that screaming about disaster planning (behind closed doors after the debrief from San Juanico and later the quake) is paying off.

I was on of the folks doing the screaming up to seven years ago.

;-)

[Carni]

5. Mexico Pat! There are people all over DU looking for you!

Glad to hear you made it through!

You should start a thread and announce that you're OK :)

[bklyncowgirl]

6. I'm happy to hear that things are OK on Isla Mujeres

I have many happy memories of that island and its people.

Maybe we should just farm out rescue efforts to Mexico.