Hurricane Rina Update
As of 8 am CST Thursday, October 27, Hurricane Rina is just south of Cozumel and has been downgraded to a category 1 hurricane. The National Hurricane Center will probably re-categorize Hurricane Rina later today to a tropical storm.
Hurricane Rina is expected to produce 3 – 6 inches of rain in the eastern Yucatan Peninsula and Cozumel, with isolated amounts of up to 10 inches.
A storm surge could raise water levels by as much as 2 – 4 feet above normal tide levels along the coast near Cancun and Playa del Carmen, also with large, destructive waves.
Ferry service to and from Cozumel is cancelled today. Fkights in and out of Cancun and Cozumel are being cancelled today.
State Tourism Director Juan Carlos Gonzalez Hernandez said there had been about 83,000 tourists in the state, with about 28,000 of them in Cancun and 45,000 more on the stretch of coast south of Cancun that includes Tulum and Playa de Carmen.
He estimated 10,000 tourists had left by Wednesday night. There were only about 1,719 tourists on Cozumel, and many of them had left, he said.
At least eight cruise ships were changing itineraries away from the storm’s path, said a spokesman for Carnival Cruise Lines, Vance Gulliksen.
We assure you that after going thru several major hurricanes including a Category 5, our property management team has the experience on what to do during these alerts. Our key objectives during these emergencies are:
- Protection and lives and safety of our clients and staff
- Protection of Our Property
- A quick recovery for up-coming guest reservations
We are awaiting direction from Playa Del Carmen Civil Protection as to any required evacuation directives. If we are required to do so we have a pre-designated location and will aid our guest in this evacuation process. We have attended several Civil Protections meetings in the past year and are in close communication.
We are receiving numerous calls from nervous guests with reservations scheduled over the next several weeks. Doesn’t look like there will be any problems.
We have already gone through Hurricane Wilma, the hurricane that destroyed Cancun, with minimal damage to properties in Playa del Carmen. Power in Playa was restored within 2 days. Airline service was restored within 48 hours.
Communication from the staff and my friends in Playa may be temporarily suspended during the next 24 hours because Playa del Carmen limits and or shuts down power during a Hurricane. Fortunately at El Taj Ocean, Porto Playa, El Taj Beach, Maya Villa and Villas Sacbe we do have generators for these circumstances for emergency lighting.
We simply want you to know that we are well prepared and we are doing everything we can to deal with Hurricane Rina.
I will give updates to you as soon as possible, as well as pictures. We continue to thank you for your support. We will keep you posted whenever possible.