Just three months after hurricane Emily, hurricane Wilma
followed her little sister to Playa del Carmen and the surrounding area on
October 21st. While Emily was impressive enough, she was only an overnight
guest. Wilma, not to be outdone by her sibling, arrived with luggage and camping
equipment and enough destructive force to realign the scenery from Akumal to
Cancun and consume the island of Cozumel as an appetizer on her way in. She
pounded the area for forty-eight hours before packing up and leaving for
Florida.
During her stay and after her departure, news reports were
grim, generally stating that Playa del Carmen was a place of the past,
virtually removed from the map and that basic services would not be available
for months and the town would need to be completely rebuilt.
I am pleased to relay that the reports of Playa del Carmen’s
demise were greatly exaggerated. As Wilmahightailed it out of town on Sunday,
crews were already out in force clearing roadways and downed power lines. Gasoline, which we were told would not be available for an indefinite period of time was
available at most of the Pemex stations in Playa on Monday afternoon.
Electrical power which was precautionarily turned off by the Municipality on
Friday morning at 4am was restored to portions of Playacar, central downtown
and 5
th Avenue on Monday evening. Our own home on the north end of
town by Coco Beach had power restored at 3:50pm on Tuesday along with gas and
water. Restaurants and shops that were not operating by Monday continued to
open their doors during the following days. A stroll along 5
th
Avenue on Thursday morning found shopkeepers ready, willing and able. Again as
with Emily, the resiliency of the Mexican people proved to be quite amazing. Another
noteworthy item is that the “red tape” of rebuilding in the US does not seem to
apply in Mexico. “If it’s broke, fix it!” seems to be the motto. While we who
live here often complain about the crude infrastructure of electricity, gas,
water and sewer installations, it also appears that these systems are
considerably easier to repair and restore than what we are accustomed to back
home.
Beaches for the most part are now substantially enhanced.
Beachfront hotels indeed have more coral sand than they know what to do with.
Shovels and wheelbarrows are busy removing three to four feet of sand from some
of the ground floor units. In the area around Coco Beach, the three most
popular beach clubs, Mamitas, El Tukan, and Zubul Reef Club are down but not
out. Crews are actively removing the rubble and no doubt will have things up
and running in the near future. In the meantime, the few remaining tourists can
be found lounging comfortably on the beach appearing not to notice the activity
of the work crews surrounding them.
Restoration of services was of course of primary concern but
it now appears the larger problem may not be lack of services but lack of
tourism. Unfortunately, the airport in Cancun which did sustain damage has had
its hands full just getting people out of the area who have been stranded since
last Thursday. No incoming passengers are allowed at this time. The planes fly
in empty and fly out full. Information regarding airport operations is still
sketchy but it appears that the control tower was damaged and planes coming in
and out need to use visual systems rather than automatic systems to land and
take off. This does not please the airlines I’m sure. Also there is no jet fuel
available at this time so planes coming in need to have enough fuel onboard to
fly out again. Earlier in the week, I had heard that passengers were required to
leave luggage behind temporarily due to weight and the temporary absence of
electronic security scanning equipment. I don’t know if this was actually the
case or not.
The local community depends almost entirely on tourism as it
drives not only the lodging and restaurant industry but almost every other
aspect of commerce as well in the area. Even a temporary downturn in visitors
can have a significant impact on the majority of the local community who rely solely
on the income derived from tourism to eat, buy clothing and pay rent and
utilities. These ongoing expenses can only be defrayed by tourism dollars.
Structural damage in Playa was largely limited to broken
glass and water damage. The use of concrete and steel in the construction
process here appears to protect the structural integrity of all buildings in
general. Palapa roofs are easily destroyed but are also easily replaced. Many
were damaged but many are still intact. Several of the larger commercial
buildings out near the highway with sheet metal roofs will need to replace them
as well.
A visit to Sam’s Club on Wednesday resulted in US rib eye
steaks, fresh pork tenderloin, cheese and other items necessary to replenish
our refrigerator. Fresh caught fish was being sold on the street from ice chest
coolers mounted on the three wheeled bicycles for 30 pesos per kilo (less than
three dollars for 2 ¼ pounds). We had a wonderful dinner at our favorite
restaurant “Chicago” on Thursday night where we visited with the owners and our
friends, Peter and Dahlia. A temporary
ban on the sale of alcohol was lifted on Friday much to the delight of many.
What Playa really needs now is you! When you get here, you
will find Playa ready and waiting. See you soon!
