México's Riviera Maya Takes Pounding from Emily

It appears that Cancún was spared a direct hit from the storm while further south less "touristy" resorts took quite a beating. Mexican officials said there was little damage to the ruins at Tulum but the backpacker hotels lost their roofs as did, apparently, some of the larger luxury hotels.
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This story is the first mention of any of the locals in the Riviera Maya region that I have seen in the US English language press. Apparently, many are now homeless. Story

We have not yet heard from any of our friends who live in Cancún, but the regional newspaper from the state* of Quintana Roo says that Cancún took mostly tree damage and that no injuries or deaths have been reported. I did my best to translate the story, but I'm far from fluent in Spanish.

Destruction of more than 50 kilometers of the electric network along the Riviera Maya, interruption of drinking water service, blocked highways, collapsed gas stations, antennae, trees and billboards, as well as flooding and damage to dwellings were left in the path of Hurricane Emily Sunday night and early Monday morning.

Along the Riviera Maya some weak dwellings were destroyed and trailers were overturned under the force of the hurricane that caused terror among inhabitants.

The hurricane, a category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, made landfall in the the state of Quintana Roo between Xel Há and Tulum with sustained winds of more than 230 kilometers per hour and gusts of 285 kilometers per hour, devastating the territory between Playa del Carmen and Tulum.

Electric service has been out since 9:00 PM Monday and, as of Tuesday night, service had not yet been 100% restored.

Emily came ashore in the zone between Puerto Aventuras and Akumal, where two gas stations collapsed, a car was buried between two cement walls and a cell phone antenna [tower] came down. The preliminary estimate by authorities yesterday projected economic losses of over 600 million pesos [$60 million USD] along the Riviera Maya, including damages in Playa del Carmen.

It is important to emphasize that as of yesterday no human deaths or injuries were reported as a direct result of the storm. In Cancún and Cozumel, the damage done by Emily's hurricane-force winds were minor. The region reported road damage, some downed power poles and billboards and flooding in addition to the destruction of more than 450 trees.

If you read Spanish, you can read the full story or go to the
Novedades Home Page.

I know power and communications are down, so I'm hoping for the best, though we have not heard a word out of Cancún since the hurricane began to threaten.

* Quintana Roo is one of three states on the Yucatán peninsula. Yucatán is also a state on the peninsula, which causes some confusion. Campeche rounds out the trio. Quintana Roo's coastline is on the Caribbean Sea while both Yucatán and Campeche are on the Gulf of Mexico. Learn more