[Aztlan] Hurricane Dean

[David Hixson]

Estimados Listeros,

I know that many of us have friends, family, or
colleagues in the wake of Hurricane Dean (now crossing
the Yucatan Peninsula).  In fact, many of our list
members are located in the hurricane's path.

The general update is that Dean struck land just north
of Chetumal as a category 5, but is now a category 3. 
Hopefully, as the eye moves across the more hilly
regions of the base of the peninsula (northern Peten
of Guatemala, southern Q. Roo and Campeche), it will
continue to diminish.

As a list member who used to live in both New Orleans
and Yucatan, I have learned to watch such storms
carefully and to care deeply for those in its path.

The eye-wall actually hit within the Sian-Kan
Biosphere reserve.  While this is good for the
peninsula (well-preserved wetlands are our best
defense against storm surges - as we should have
learned before Katrina), there are many small villages
in the direct line of this storm.

For those not familiar with the area: the following
links are for the Sian Kan biosphere reserve (not
Hurricane Dean)...

http://www.mexicoweb.com/travel/siankaan.html

http://www.cesiak.org/

http://www.hotelstulum.com/siankan.htm

In addition, as anyone who has lived in the hurricane
belt will know, those on the upper-counter-clockwise
end of a tropical storm are the hardest hit by rain
belts (also called the "outer bands").  So, those
villages, towns, and resorts between Chetumal and
southern Cancun will have significant impact from the
storm surge and rainfall (although less wind than near
the eyewall).

http://www.weather.com/newscenter/hurricanecentral/2007/dean.html?nav=1&#navbar

So, as a concerned group of citizens, if anyone has
any updates from the areas affected, I'm sure our list
would greatly appreciate the information.

My personal sympathies and respect go out to those who
weathered this storm.

PLEASE LET US KNOW IF WE CAN HELP!

-Dave

__________________________________________________
David R. Hixson
Aztlan Moderator &
Doctoral Candidate
Tulane University
Dept. of Anthropology
__________________________________________________
"Nothing more useless than a bored archaeologist."
-Douglas Adams


       
____________________________________________________________________________________
Building a website is a piece of cake. Yahoo! Small Business gives you all the tools to get online.
http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/webhosting