Hurricane Wilma - Puerto Aventuras
October 2005
When we first heard about Wilma, it seemed that there was little to worry about. A small hurricane had formed and was heading our way. It was unlikely to hit us and even if it did it wasn't such a big deal as it was only expected to be a category two on the Saffir-Simpson scale and we could manage that.
The pages that follow show just how wrong we were and how the smallest tropical storm should be given it's due respect, because one day it might become the worlds biggest hurricane and bang on your door for 24 hours!
A view through a peephole in the boards shows the immensity of the Sea at the height of the storm. Fortunately for us the extreme winds coming from the land helped to knock down the waves instead of growing them as happened in Cancun an hours drive to the North
As the hurricane eye moved from Northern Cozumel towards Cancun, the winds lessened allowing us a chance to see more. Here is the bridge that joins the Catalonia Hotel to the the most northerly rock beaches of Puerto Aventuras.
A long exposure and blurry picture of the group of us that sat out Wilma in our apartment.
Such a deluge of course results in serious flooding. This is the river that ran in the road outside our apartment building.
I dare not imagine how things might have been had we had the northern side of the storm blowing up the waves into the sea facing glass doors of our apartment. For a few hours I think the boards would have held out, but 24 hours of hurricane seas, I doubt they would have withstood.
Boarding up the windows facing the sea, where we expected Hurricane Wilma to start her attack. As it turned out we were on the south of the eye and all the wind came from the land.
The noise of these gigantic waves breaking into the rocks outside our window was at times more than disconcerting especially when accompanied by the banshee screams of the 145 mph winds trying to break down the back windows of our apartment.
The winds were relentless for more than 36 hours, 24 hours of which were hurricane strength.
The front door had to be barricaded and the bottom sealed with wetsuits to prevent the wind and water entering. Even with these measures, when walking past the door a strong breeze could be felt.
Taking a peek through the tiny peephole we had in the boards to see the giant hurricane stirred seas crashing around us.
Windows leaked gallons of storm forced water for the duration of the hurricane and had to be constantly mopped up. As we had no running water this saved us from using our valuable water stocks to flush toilets.
Weeks before we had constructed a small path to the beach, that here can be seen being removed!
