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October 28, 2002.
In case you
weren't around last Friday morning, let me tell you: you missed it. The whole
thing only took a couple of hours, and not solid at that. Hurricane Kenna, a Category
5 hurricane - the biggest, meanest, strongest category on the Safir-Simpson scale
and the third largest to hit Mexico in the last four decades - made landfall in
San Blas, a few hundred kilometers north of Puerto Vallarta, around noon. Here
in town, all we got was a few gusts of wind, a few spurts of rain, and waves.
Waves like I have only seen on the Discovery Channel when they want to teach us
about tsunamis… From what I understand, they were about 10 meters high, that's
30 feet for our American readers. Their power was awesome, and devastating, and
the damage they caused is beyond belief. Establishments along the beach found
themselves defenseless in the path of those waves - as did our famous seawall,
our Malecon, the one they fixed up so prettily last year. They all proved helpless
against the power of Mother Nature's wrath. Our beautiful arches - Los Arcos -
are gone. As I write this, there is more sand on the streets than there is along
the beach. The main drag by the water is closed to traffic and the heavy machinery
is working full steam to clean up the mess. And yet, we are blessed. I can only
imagine what it would have been had Kenna actually entered the Bay of Banderas. This
place is blessed indeed. Never has a hurricane entered this bay. Our marinas are
actually the only ones in Mexico considered to be "safe havens" by marine
insurance underwriters. Nevertheless, it is extremely depressing to see the damage.
And what was even stranger was the fact that when it stopped, it just stopped.
The sun came out and the heat returned, as if nothing had happened. And the sunset
was breathtaking. Oh, yes, the rivers were maybe four times the size they usually
are, looking like chocolate-colored rapids. And the band of silt-laden waters
they poured into the bay formed an ever-widening beige band along the coast. Windows
were blown out of shops and banks and restaurants and all the broken glass was
rushed into the ocean by the current of the rivers of water coming down the hilly
streets towards the ocean. The electricity was shut down
as early as 8:30 a.m. We couldn't log on the internet, or turn on the Weather
Channel to find out what was happening. And the radio stations weren't broadcasting
either. I am lucky to have some very good friends in both Guadalajara and Mexico
City. They called me to find out if we were okay, and they told us all about what
they were seeing on their televisions. That's how I found out that it was safe
to go out because Kenna was already way inland while we were still waiting for
it to hit… When power was reinstated, the cable feed was down. According
to CNN, we didn't exist. Surprising, considering that when a hurricane hits Acapulco,
they are in the habit of lumping the entire west coast of Mexico together, telling
their zillion viewers that "the entire west coast of Mexico has been battered,
all the airports are shut down, etc. etc." as it did when Hurricane Pauline
hit Acapulco so hard a few years ago. Not this time. Hurricane Kenna? Nada. Not
even on CNN "International". Yesterday, they only spoke of the sniper
and today of the untimely death of the beloved U.S. senator. I
tried to get downtown, to the main drag, but it was blocked off. So I went around,
up to the Libramiento, came back down and parked on the south side. My bank is
gone. My friend's business on Mexico Avenue is destroyed. That great ice cream
shop, Once Upon A Time…, lost its sliding glass doors and of course all those
delicious ice creams and sherbets and paletas that were inside. I spoke to the
youngsters who own it. Although they were devastated, they were already talking
about their next "inauguration" party… But not everyone else was
lucky enough to have taken out insurance. And that is sad. Especially when someone
puts their heart and soul into their place of business, just to see it washed
away in a few minutes. I just pray that there was no loss of life. Later on in
the day, I saw dozens of army trucks coming into town, filled with soldiers. And
someone told me the state governor would grace us with a visit. On
a lighter note, a unanimous opinion about anything in this town is a very rare
occurrence indeed. However, it happened recently. Everyone I spoke with, without
exception, young and old, men and women, locals and foreigners, all agreed that
the new recorded message that was installed by the national telephone company
(TelMex) was one of the most irritating, unnerving things to have happened in
Vallarta in a long, long time - even more so than the buses and taxis thing, if
you can believe it. I'm talking about the one that came
on after you dialed a number and before you got a chance to hear a busy signal.
A voice (that you soon got to detest passionately) advised you, "El numero
que Usted marcó está ocupado" (the number you have dialed is
busy). Whatever possessed the decision-makers to think that we could no longer
recognize a busy signal and that consequently, we had to have it explained to
us? Personally, I've never seen so many people -normally calm of character- slam
their phones as often as I did over the last few weeks. Maybe they want to liquidate
their inventory of telephones? Anyway, someone must have complained because the
message disappeared, and along with it, all the messages we had recorded personally
for our voice mail boxes… In previous years, November
has been really great in Vallarta, starting with the traditional celebrations
of the Day of the Dead. Though the name may seem a little daunting to the uninitiated,
it is a fascinating and wonderful ancient tradition. And last week - before Kenna
- I noticed that the town had just started to come alive once again. There were
Mariachi in the streets, there was music in the air, the Art Walks are scheduled
to start up again this Wednesday, and the Arts Festival was to start the very
next day. Now that Los Arcos Amphitheater is no longer, I don't know what will
happen or what decisions will be made by the organizers. Favorite restaurants
reopened, and I saw tourists around. This was great, especially when we consider
that this past month of September was the worst ever according to those who have
been here since for ever. But now with Hurricane Kenna (is that male or female?),
so many establishments on the beach have to rebuild, and many of them were to
participate in the Gourmet Festival. So again, I don't know what will happen.
Stay tuned and as soon as we find out for sure (as opposed to rumors), we'll let
you know. I'm glad that the season for the release of
the baby turtles is just about over, cause I have a feeling that the nests would
not survive Kenna's wrath. I wish you all a positive,
optimistic Halloween week Hasta Luego, friends! pvmomto3@hotmail.com Archives
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