There would have been NO place safe in Majahual ... The entire town was reportedly evacuated farther inland with the possible exception of a half dozen or so who refused to leave.
Here's a bit more that I found:
From the new light house all down the town of Mahahual, it is no longer Mahahual, everything is gone! Our friends and family in Mahahual, Luna De Plata, Cueva Del Lobo, Blue Iguana, Blue Ocean Safari, Dreamtime to name a few, are gone. the port is under water, and it will be a 2 to 3 weeks before it goes down, Tequila is gone too, Km 10 was spared but everything else, don't know what the damage is. Our prayers are with all of our friends who owned business and homes, the Casitas were hit as well, busted glass, water and wind damage is seen all over, per the owners of Luna De Plata who were there today to assess the damage, only the new rooms in the back were spared, houses are left in pretty bad shape
Musical Cruiser already posted an article on the port; here is another one with a few more details
USA Today
The Cruise Log by Gene Sloan
Hurricane knocks out Costa Maya for at least six months
News is starting to trickle out of Costa Maya, the fast-growing Mexican cruise port walloped Tuesday by Hurricane Dean, and it's not good. After surveying the damage, officials say the port could be out of action for at least six months, maybe more.
Cesar Lizarraga, the area's director of sales and marketing, says in a statement that about half of the port's infrastructure, including the cruise ship pier, was damaged. Lizarraga didn't elaborate on the nature of the damage, but says that "an early estimate indicates the port will remain closed for six to eight months" for repairs. The cost, he added, will be in the millions.
Lizarraga says Costa Maya officials are currrently meeting with cruise lines that use the port to discuss the future. But it could be some time before ships return. In a hint of just how bad the damage is, Lizarraga mentioned "mid-2008" as a timetable for when ships might be back to the sunny locale.
Carved out of the jungle along the Yucatan coast just six years ago, Costa Maya has grown from nothing to become of the most visited ports in the Western Caribbean. The man-made beach area offers bars, restaurants, shops and entertainment, as well as excursions to nearby Mayan ruins.
Though perhaps a ray of sunshine for those of us who have a certain special interest in Roatan! Don't like it coming at Costa Maya's expense, though.
CM, I will look at all the cruises that go to Costa Maya, and then watch to see which ones the lines move to Roatan. Then we can talk about whether we need to move supplies.
The pictures are just staggering....it looks like total destruction of the town at this point. Hopefully folks fled the area prior to the storms fury. Thank goodness that much of the vegetation will regenerate quickly. It's amazing how all the foliage is just wiped clean from the plants, last December it was thick and jungle-like.
Hopefully the pier and complex will be rebuilt on the fast track, the sooner tourists can return the sooner income flows into the area.
When it is rebuilt and we (cruisers) start heading back there, I hope we will do a little extra. I know that some school supplies for the kids or an extra tip would be greatly appreciated. I have not asked, but I feel like Jaoquin from Chac-Chi would be happy to assist us with our donations.
But first we have to get the port rebuilt and the ships headed there again!!
In May, David and Ivan helped us get the school supplies we took to a couple of small schools.
I've emailed them and asked them to let us know what we can mail down in the way of supplies. I know they will get whatever we send into the hands that most need them.
Maybe you could email Jaoquin from Chac-Chi to ask the same thing.
From: "mike and chrissy hopson" <hotinplaya at playful.com>
Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2007 20:14:14 -0500
Dean made a direct on Mahahual in the Costa Maya, I have not seen anything on the American networks, but this was in our local paper "Quintana Roo" POR ESTO (playa del Carmen)As I posted a few days ago, the Costa Maya is a thin strip of land , with the sea to the east, and mangroves to the west, extending 30 miles to the mainland, it is like being on an island, maybe 10 feet in height. The town is 2 blocks wide, sea to the front mangrove (swamp) to the backThe (normal) pictures are from a trip we made there a few years ago, Mahahual was a boom town with the new "Port Costa Maya" cruise ship terminal just installed, and it was growing from a sleepy fishing village of 300 people , to a small town to support the cruise ship port.The pictures and the story say the town is gone, the few remaining buildings will have to be demolishedmy pictures were taken in the same location as the news papers!The paper (and other sources) say's the entire town was "forcibly " evacuated by the military before hand, and no one was lostmike hopson
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