With regret I have seen the reports of the devastation wreaked by hurricane Wilma in Cancun and Yucatan in general. I went there last year's summer, not so much to Cancun as it is just your usual (= boring) tourist resort, but to Isla Mujeres, Isla Holbox, Merida and Valladolit.

First thing, except for the warm humidity, I noticed as odd in Cancun was how high the sidewalks were in comparisn to the streets, about one foot. I only understood when I first experienced the rain. Streets turned into little rivers within minutes, even in normal rain. I was soaked within less than a minute.
Pretty much the next thing I did was to by myself some flip-flops (that served me quite well for the rest of the trip). The good thing about the rain was that it was warm.

Then, it is very flat there, usually flat beaches and very little cover from the wind. Add light buildings and mexican 'manana' building standards and you can imagine how little protection there is from a massive hurricane. On Isla Mujeres there was a derelict hotel that was wrecked in a hurricane a couple of years ago. In Mexico, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen, Cancun, Isla Mujeres, and the city of Merida are seeing extremely heavy rainfall and strong winds. Half of the island of Cozumel is said to be under water. Cancun’s lower areas are at high risk and its airport is closed.Poor people there (https://www.redcross.org/news/ds/profiles/disaster_profilei-wilma.html). It's odd how such events are perceived different as soon as one knows the place.

I agree.

It also has always amazed me that the building standards in warm weather areas aren't always as strict as in colder climates. Here in the northeast houses are "supposedly" built solidly to handle the crushing weight of snow on the roof and to keep the cold out. When things aren't built as solidly, they are prescriptions for disaster when major storms hit. It isn't as if these areas don't know they get hit by hurricanes. How do the building inspectors allow it?

EDIT:

I just heard from my Dad and sister who are in Broward county. They are having quite a bit of damage as my sister has lost three sides of a fence, a wooden swingset has been toppled, and the house is constantly being impacted by flying shingles. Apparantly, they make a very distinctive sound when they hit. They have also been without power since this morning.

[ October 24, 2005, 17:32: Message edited by: The Great Snook ]

Building standards here in Houston, especially the city codes, are extremely poor. A number of houses had to actually burn down before they bothered to address the issue of aluminum wiring in homes built here. The builders, along with most other businesses, run the city, which explains why the building codes are so "friendly" to the builders. Also, they would not want union workers to construct any homes - they would much rather use the cheapest labor they can find. But homes are "cheap" here - and you can say that again.

[ October 25, 2005, 04:25: Message edited by: Chandos the Red ]