Here She Comes and She's Heading Straight to our House

Playa del Carmen is ready for Emily and her nasty attitude

180,000 relocated ahead of storm

Fierce Hurricane Emily continues to buzzsaw toward our Yucatan Peninsula and it looks like the center will hit between Tulum and Akumal.

As of 7 p.m. local time CST this Sunday, the top winds are at 140 mph. Emily, an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane, is expected to crash ashore tonight. And although damage from the storm will not be widespread due to its small size, it will be devastating close to the track of the eye.  That means us here in the Riviera Maya.

Hurricane warnings remain in effect along the east coast of the peninsula from Chetumal northward past Cancun to Cabo Catoche.  The warnings were extended westward and southward along the coast to Campeche on the west side of the peninsula.

Storm surge flooding along the east coast near and immediately north of Emily's eye may reach 8 to 12 feet above normal tide levels. Large waves will accompany the storm surge. Rainfall amounts of 5 to 8 inches (isolated 12 inches) are expected as Emily swirls west-northwestward over the peninsula.

Emily will lose strength as it crosses the Yucatan, but may well recover to a Category 3 hurricane before it hammers into the northern Mexican Gulf Coast late Tuesday or early Wednesday. But for now, it’s our problem.

180,000 relocated ahead of storm

A fleet of buses was moving 30,000 tourists in the resort to temporary shelters, while 70,000 to 80,000 more people were being evacuated across the state of Quintana Roo.

Hundreds of mostly foreign tourists waited for the buses in a light drizzle. Others lay shoulder-to-shoulder on thin foam pads in a sweltering gymnasium near the center of Cancun, one of Mexico’s most popular tourist destinations known for its white-sand beaches, sprawling hotel complexes and all-night discos.

The evacuees were given free bottled water and sandwiches, but many gasped when a hard rain rattled the metal roof of the building. Some asked how long they would have to stay in the confines.

“It’s hot in here,” said Beth McGhee, 46, a tourist from Independence, Mo. “We feel like we’ve been kept in the dark until this morning. But we’re safe, and that’s what’s important.”

Cancun’s grim-faced mayor, Francisco Alor, said the city was preparing for a near-direct hit.

“This hurricane is coming with same force as Gilbert,” he said in reference to a notorious 1988 hurricane that killed 300 people in Mexico and the Caribbean.

Tourism and hotel officials had said guests of beachside hotels would be relocated to ballrooms and convention centers in larger, well-protected hotels, but the first wave of evacuees was ferried to gymnasiums and government schools.

Playa Residents are Ready

Evelyn Bevacqua, a Playa del Carmen resident, reports that winds picking up and she’s bracing for the worst.  Her house in a bunker.  “it’s tightened up and we’re ready” says EB.  Her dogs have been picking up the scent of danger for two days and so she’s had time to prepare. 

However, some, for whatever reason, have not heeded the warnings and PMN is very concerned. So if you know of any peeps out in need of help get them to a shelter now……..please don’t wait any longer.  Emily is here and she’s not coming as an invited quest.  No, she’s crashing our party and while we are going to receive her tonite, we are all not too pleased about it.

So stay safe peeps………PMN will be reporting as it can during the next 24 – 48 hours.

EB's Dinning Room - Ready for Winds?

EB's Bathroom where they plan on sleeping tonite........safe, no windows

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