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Enjoy the calm, before the storm...

This site is dedicated to the survivors of Hurricane Wilma in Cancún, Mexico 2005

icon The Honeymoon

As the Jess's departed their home town in Ohio the last thing on their minds were a tropical storm thathad been brewing off shoredays before. Why would they,  they were entangled in Newly Wed bliss as would any young couple their ripe young age. This would be their first adventure abroad to foreing land aloe togehter. Pretty big adventure when it ticks so many first's right out of the gate. They were so full of love and excitement the worry of a tropical storm was not going to hold them back.    

the after

icon Category 5 Hurricane

A tropical depression formed in the Caribbean Sea near Jamaica on October 15, headed westward, and intensified into a tropical storm two days later, which abruptly turned southward and was named Wilma. Wilma continued to strengthen, and eventually became a hurricane on October 18. Shortly thereafter, explosive intensification occurred, and in only 24 hours, Wilma became a Category 5 hurricane with wind speeds of 185 mph (298 km/h).

the after

icon Cleanup Effort

The people of Cancun Mexico are truly some of the hardest working people I have ever seen. During our survival adventure through the days following the storm I was amazed by the amount of work that was completed in the couple days we were stuck there. Workers were out, Marina was out all working together. Their goal and attitude was clearly to push forward and move on. They were digging power-line poles by hand with post digging equipment. The cleanup began ASAP.

the after



STORIES 

OUR GALLERY

BLOG POSTS

  • Survivor Stories 1
  • SURVIVOR STORIES
    Posted by : Joe Austin

    Jesse & Jessica, I just looked at your website and have to tell you how sorry I am to see your photos and the conditions you had to endure. We were in between Playa del Carmen and Puerto Aventuras at the Aventura Spa Palace. On Thursday, October 20, the hotel evacuated us to their convention center. The convention center is a designated hurricane shelter. We and 1600 other "guests" were treated quite well during and after Wilma. The hotel kitchen is connected to the convention center by an underground tunnel. Because the electricity was out, the hotel was cooking and serving us 3 squares a day, before the food spoiled. One day, they even had peanuts from the bar and chocolates from room service. The hotel management stayed with the guests during and after the hurricane making sure we were as comfortable as we could be. On Monday, after the hurricane, a few guys from our group found a cab to take them to Tulum. When they got there they called our families in the US to let them know we were all ok. While there, they persuaded a van to take us to Merida. There were 8 of us. Cost was $800. We got a little nervous when we went south as we were not sure where the driver was taking us. But he knew of the extensive damage and flooding toward Cancun and got us to Merida 8 hours later.

    When we got to Merida the only people there were tour groups and travel agency charters. We called the US and had our families arrange flights out on Continental. We stayed in the airport that night. As we waited, the airport started filling up with escapees like ourselves. We decided at about 4:00am to get in line at the Continental counter. I kept counting how many people were ahead of us, so that I knew people weren't line busting. Behind us though, the line kept growing until there was about 300 people flying standby. We had tickets and confirmation numbers thanks to our families. Continental was the only airline on Tuesday flying in empty planes to help us get out of Mexico. They had flown 3 into Merida that day. The plane left at 1:00pm and were home in Dallas by 6:30pm.

    Again, your conditions were much tougher, but I am glad that we all got out of there in one piece. But the thing is... We cannot wait to go back.
  • Survivor Stories 2
  • SURVIVOR STORIES
    Posted by : William Caput MD

    I am Doctor Caput and was on the second floor of the Moon Palace Convention Center Refuge with my family of 6. We had the portable crib for Bryan on the second floor. Bryan got quite ill duirng the 5 days lock down and lost three pounds by the time we got home. We were evacuated to Merida on Monday evening and still couldn't get out until Saturday.

    The Merida airport was a nightmare. Fortunately I had been to Merida on three seperat occasions during the past five years to hold clinics for the poor people in the area on behalf of a Methodist Church in Merida. I knew Merida well and although we were all sick from bronchitis and pneumonia we survived.

    We are worried about some of the other guests particularily the children. Does anyone know how little Sarah did and when did that family get out. What happened at the Moon Palace after Monday October 24. When and how did the refugees finally get out. We had reports that the airport didn't function until well into the second week.

    If you were at the Moon Palace please write me and let me know your experiences. Does anyone know what if anything that the American Government did to help any of us. In Merida there was no evidence of any additional airline flights. It was absolute chaos. Thanks William Caput MD
  • Survivor Storie 3
  • SURVIVOR STORIES
    Posted by : Brandi Wapon
    Well we just arrived back from Cancun Mexico. We were lucky enough to see the hotel before, during, and after the hurricane. My boyfriend and I only got about 1 1/2 days of fun before the rest of the trip turned into a pretty bad time. I do want to say that the staff at the Iberostar could not be more friendly. We were one of the unlucky ones to be in the "convention center" during the hurricane. the workers were always friendly and tried harder than I have ever seen a person/s try to make us feel at ease. Our group helped to raise the $6000 in 25min for the workers to split. The roof coming down was very scary, but everyone made us as comfortable as possible. The one thing I would of asked for is some communication before, during, and after the hurricane. I know that during the storm they could only inform us as much as they found out. But all we got from staff before the storm was that we would get some rain and it wasn't a big deal. Well it turned out a lot worse. Lomus did nothing. They made me feel that much more helpless and scared. We actually got out of the country using a totally different travel company because they were willing to help. The Lindo theater was up and running after it was flooded 1 1/2 days later with shows being put on. Our group made up the "Wilma" drink. So if you ever go there ask for the bartender named Irving. Once you have him ask him to either make a "Wilma" or if you use the code word you can use your middle finger and scratch your cheek. That is the code word. He hated making them because they have a lot of alcohol in them and are time consuming. Tip him well and he will be fine. Just tell him the "Wilma" Crew- Chris,Brandi,Andrew,Shawna,etc..say HI, and we will be back for his drinks. He was wonderful along with the rest of the bartending team. They kept us sane. I would love to go back to this beautiful hotel when it is back to normal, not during hurricane season. I only wish we had more time to enjoy it. We will be back. I don't have my photos on this computer, but the destruction is only something that has bonded all of us with the IBEROSTAR.

CONTACT US

Instituto La Salle Cancún (Shelter)

icon 1 5529+J6 Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico

This is the location of the shelter we stayed at during the storm. We had a huge group with us from the hotel.15-20 people were clustered in a school room sleeping on pads. After the storm all running water and sewer stopped functioning here. During the storm there was significant flooding from all the sideways rain. All the drains at the shelter quickly backed up from debris and everything flooded until we got the drains clear.     

Capital O Farallon Inn (Post Storm Hostel)

icon 1 Farallón 21, 15, 77505 Cancún, Q.R., Mexico

We took shelter here a few nights. It was amazing, we were fortunate they had rooms available   

You can find the Shelter at 5529+J6 Cancún,Quintana Roo,Mexico.
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Throughout the entire hurricane there was one phrase I heard over and over again, that was "I just want to go home."

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