Cozumel Mexico Vacations, Cruise to Cozumel, Cozumel Hotels, Cozumel tours, shore excursions in Cozumel Mexico, Cozumel island, all inclusive resort Cozumel, trips to Cozumel

THE STORY:

The day started normal, getting to the office, knowing there is a tropical depression (this word will appear again...) somewhere in the Caribbean...ready to start daily regular work. First thing comes first, so there goes the run for coffee. But things were different that day, the colleagues were stressed...nervous...something seems to head towards us.

On all the computers you could see wunderground.com, noaa.com, etc...and there were pictures we did not forget since hurricane Emily in 2004. At that time, I personally evacuated my apartment since there was no wood to find anymore (yes, I did not prepare well) and asked for refuge in my friends house, who was away. That hurricane lasted approximately 8 hours and everybody was back cleaning up...not toooo much of a deal.

Hurricane Emily Cozumel pictures (noaa)

 

 

 

Hurricane Emily Cozumel pictures (personal & web)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BUT, hurricane Wilma had other plans on October 2005...

...the island started to become very nervous, traffic increased, accidents increased, there were long lines in front of banks, super markets, gas stations, ... all the boats were brought to shore or evacuated to the mainland...the time before the hurricane, is the 3rd worst time. Later on it was clear, Cozumel Island will get a direct impact of a category 5 storm and yes, people were afraid despite the historical hurricane culture in the Mexican Caribbean.

Watching TV and listening radio, the authorities were on 24 hours, within breaks of calming music. What sounded bad got worse every hour and even the strongest guys started to have this strange look on their faces, a mix of confusion, stress, feeling of lack of power and survival thoughts. Police and Military made it clear, there was mandatory evacuation for people in weak built houses and flood endangered areas, significantly increased patrols in the streets, ...curfew followed soon.

Everybody waited in their homes...waiting is all one can do (being thoroughly prepared of course).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Towards afternoon of day 2, we received a phone call from friends in Merida (mainland Yucatan)...we were told not to leave the house under any circumstance...even if there was no wind?? Yes, the gigantic eye of this hurricane was exactly over the island Cozumel...for more than one hour!! The Cat. 5 Storm decided to "beat up" Cozumel Island for more than 72 hours (!!!) with its hurricane strong winds...

What was expected to become a bad experience changed out of nowhere its course to the worst experience. In the last hours before landfall in the Yucatan Peninsula, Hurricane Wilma changed its track and moved extremely slow DIRECTLY towards Cozumel....then it came and did not move away. The storm was stopped by a cold front which made is stationary without loosing strength... (picture from www.nnvl.noaa.gov)

 

• Coral Reef Snorkeling

• Power Snorkel Cozumel

• Clear Kayak and Snorkel

• 3 Coral Reef Snorkel

• Glass Bottom Snorkel

• Sail and Snorkel Charter

• Discover SCUBA Diving

• 2 Tank SCUBA PADI Dive

• Cavern Diving Cozumel

 

 

 

 

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