If anyone is still awake
8PM UPDATE CONT.
8PM CANCUN:
We saw Plaza Las Americas with incredible damage from the Hurricane, the glass window roofs are gone, walls "look" like the have partcially fallen and or are falling, roof down in parts, fronts of stores are gone, hurricane doors and plywood that was protecting is gone and everywhere.
We saw footage of Plaza Avenidas with extensive damage which is in downtown, Tulum Av. with extensive flooding.
Police trapped in the hotel zone by the water reported to Televisa Reporters that the crocodiles were in the water near them and pleaded for help.
Cancun confirms another death from a window that exploded into the home during the winds and killed the person nearest the window.
The Ritz Carlton is showing extensive damage as well. For those of you with knowlege of Cancun and the Hotel Zone PLAYA DELFINES where we lost our video and camera equipment on Thursday to a fall the water passed over the road and met the lagoon. I am not that good with the height but I would say 30 feet or more of sea wall to climb. That is located next to the Hilton and the area was described last night by patrols as "out of control" now I know why.
Cancun is reporting that 28 kilometers of beach is gone. There is no beach according to authorities and the conditions are still very bad.
Downtown Cancun is Flooded at 85% of the surface area. Some areas called Popular Regions like 232, 230, 240 etc. the water is up to 5 feet there and people are still trying to get out who did not evacuate yesterday or Thursday.
Commision Federal of Electricity who handles the electric in Cancun is saying that it will be 15 to 20 days to restore partial service to parts of Cancun.
The footage we saw had trees everywhere, cars floating, signs down, glass everywhere, water tanks floating and in general an incredible amount of damage that I have not seen.
More...
http://www.cancuntravelonline.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1251
7:30pm, Saturday
Adrian (shown at left) just phoned us. They have only been able to walk around downtown. The small piers for dive boats are destroyed. Punta Langosta cruise ship pier near downtown is partially destroyed. The roofs of Casa Denis restaurant and Plaza del Sol shopping area are gone. The giant flag pole is gone. he talked with the owner of Rock 'n Java restaurant and the building is intact, but all contents destroyed, as is the case with most oceanfront businesses. Almost every palapa structure has disappeared. It sounds like McDonalds has been destroyed. The expensive oceanfront shops were severely damaged or destroyed and are being looted. They found a dead body on the oceanfront, but thought that this person had been dead for several days--and was washed up by the hurricane (Do not panick, we do not think there was loss of life in Cozumel). The oceanfront street on ! the west side of downtown is intact--the seawall held. Most concrete structures are intact, but received water damage. Flooding was not a major problem in downtown, although rain was forced into every crack, so many homes received some water damage.
Scuba Tony and Encarna who we lost contact with yesterday are also fine. It is dark in Cozumel now, and they won't be going back out until mo rning. We hope to bring you further updates
http://stormcarib.com/reports/2005/mexico.shtml
Migrant workers in Southwest Florida face fear with storm snip
Because of the seasonality of their work, many undocumented laborers -- 10,000, by one estimate --
snip
''If 10,000 people show up, we can open additional shelters. We'll accommodate as many as we can,'' Torre said.
I am... but I'm fading fast. Stayed up to post the 1 AM intermediate and confirm what I've been seeing since 7 PM last night -- that Wilma's been moving NE. I'll be going to bed soon. Tomorrow will be an all-nighter.
This woke me up.
I wonder if some local citizenry will come to the police's rescue. LOL
Wow. The reports of damage at that link are very sobering. But not surprising, considering how Wilma sat on top of them for a whole day of relentless pounding. Just imagine -- all the beaches are gone. Complete erosion.