Kisses to Cabo

Cabo airport photo from Facebook

Living on the island of Cozumel, we all know what hurricanes are like. The devastation and fear, the worst part being after the storm passes normally. We were lucky with Wilma in one way, there was not a lot of loss of life. Property can be replace and it surely was. Now we need to send kisses to Cabo and the surrounding areas ... the Corridor, Cabo San Lucas, San Jose del Cabo and the surrounding towns. These photos are so reminiscent of what we went through here in 2005.

The flooding and downed power lines are always a major problem after a storm. Here the municipio turned off the power to the town before Hurricane Wilma arrived. It made for a lot of inconvenience after the storm as each street had to be turned back on manually. Took tons of CFE employees from all over the country and weeks to accomplish, but it really saves lives.

Our hearts go out to all the people in the Baja Sur area where this took place. We truly do understand and commiserate.

Stay safe, Cabo, and hope your recovery is speedy. I am sure there will be relief efforts set up soon, with websites for donations. When I see them, I will add the links here.

Rina Long Gone

Now that Rina is gone, we get to reassess the water table situation in Cozumel. A lot of homes were flooded from the 6.5" of rain that dropped in about 3 hours. We are all safe. That is the most important thing, but many of the yards and houses still have standing water and are in the process of drying out. 


Possibly more drains need to be placed in Cozumel. That may be something that gets addressed next. It is an ongoing problem on islands and especially for us, as underground is a cenote system. When the cenotes fill up, there is nowhere for the water to go but up.


On the other hand, when I read about so many islands that no longer have potable drinking water, I am grateful for our never-ending water supply. 

Hurricane Rina Update

Unlike most things in life, preparing for a hurricane reminds me of a dress rehearsal. We prefer that the real show never makes it to Broadway. So we are boarding up, closing and locking our hurricane shutters. We move furniture, angst over whether we need to take everything off the walls, roll up rugs, stack mattresses on top of each other on the beds in the store. We put pallets under our headboards and night tables in the warehouse and hope that no water comes in.


For us at The Magic of Design, getting ready for a hurricane is a major ordeal. We have our personal house to deal with, the easiest by far as we have hurricane shutters. Closed and locked. The store ... being on the second story we don't fear leaving things on the floor, but away from the windows and doors. Towels under doors and tucked into window wells, plywood on the outside. Now our great staff is finishing up with our warehouse and our upholstery shop. More plywood ... and yet we hope it is all for naught. That no hurricane comes our way. That we remain safe.


Looking very good at this point ... Hurricane Rina has been downgraded to a Cat. 2 and may become a 1 before landfall. But with hurricanes, we never know. Better safe than sorry. 


The island of Cozumel is an amazing place. Everybody works together to prepare and if we do get hit, every man, woman and child over 2 will be out for the cleanup. That is just how it is.


A lovely female reporter from the AP interviewed me by phone this morning. Her name is Adriana Gomez. She contributed on the attached article.


Hurricane Rina update


I am even mentioned my name. How cool is that! Thanks, Adriana.