“This is a price one pays for living in a privileged place — the Caribbean,” he said, as he looked at the downed trees in the town square. “Nature collects a toll from us.”
-Alvaro Sosa Marvil, veteranarian from Chetumal City as quoted in the New York Times
This video is for those who have family, friends, homes or businesses in and around Merida or on the northern Gulf Coast of the Yucatan Peninsula but were not here during Hurricane Dean. No te preocupes. You’ll see that the effects of Hurricane Dean on this area during the peak storm hours on Tuesday, August 21st, were not much worse than a blustery autumn day in the States. While we know that there are many in the southeast of the Peninsula who did not escape the worst of the storm, this video shows that those in the northwest are unharmed.
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better than anything we’ll ever see on the news. Thank you for showing us first hand!
Looks great - must admit to those last few scenes making me a little homesick for Progreso. Its been too long.
Thank you so much for the video and the entire report I was very concerned about my family but after watching your great images I can now calm down and expect to find my family to be just fine and safe. I will be calling them up when the sun rises to make sure they had no mayor physical or material damages. Great job!!!
Greetings from California!!
Lizbeth
Great Report!! Nice to know my condo in chicxulub is ok!! You guys do a great job of keeping us in the loop at our second home!! See ya in October!!
great info i cannot wait to visit the area–interested in retirement there
Your report on hurricane Dean was outstanding. The quality of the video as well as the timing of the commentary gave a great sense of relief to those who have interest in the Merida area. Other than your report, it was impossible to obtain information on the effects of the hurricane in Merida. Thank you for your efforts and the considerable talent you bring to your publications. I, personally, cannot thank you enough for educating me on the Yucatan.
You have put my mind at ease, thank you! Working Gringo’s, you are THE BEST!
Muchisimias gracias! As others have said above, your timely, high-quality reporting allows those of us up north to put our minds at ease. Be well.
Thank you for the reporting, and I am so happy that the area has been largely spared.
Hey thanks for the heads up! Looks like things are looking as good as usual! I’m heading there for my parents 30 year wedding anniversary. I’ll be in Chelem most of the time I’m there, so if you’re in the area stop by and say hi!
Excellent reporting! We are adding a link to this feature from the Yucatan topic in our Mexico forum
your voice and your choice of words are as magical and exotic as the hurricane itself.absolutly beautiful
Would like to thank you tremendously for the video on Merida during the hurricane. We have a house in centro and were very much concerned. You are doing a fabulous job with your reporting. Will be in Merida the end of October. Thank you again for a job well done!!! Mucho gracias!!!
I have to say, finding your website has been a blessing. I have lived in L.A. for 11 years and this is the FIRST site that gives me the information that I have always wanted about Merida, you guys have everything ! THANK YOU SO MUCH for putting all this work.
ps. this video has given me more information than any other website or tv program. my sister told me that it was no more than a “nortecito” but seeing with my own eyes now i feel more in peace. once again. thank you
Thanks Ellen - What a relief to know that Merida, our future home and the friends we’ve made there were spared the worst from Dean. The video was fantastic - those guys at The Weather Chanel could really take a lesson from you!
Hope to see you soon!
Thanks Gringos! Fabulous reportage as always. I just spoke to a friend in “El DF,” and he says they’ve gotten 14 straight hours of heavy rain, which has snarled traffic and led to flooding in low-lying areas. Looks like Mérida got off very lucky indeed!
Thanks again for your wonderful website,
Regards,
Kim G
Boston, MA
Here’s a story that tells what it is really like in the south area of the peninsula. While lots of people are happy that the hurricane did not hit the biggest tourist resorts, nor the most populated areas of the peninsula (the north), it was devastating for those it did hit. Sounds like it wouldn’t take much to help these folks a whole lot:
Hurricane robs Maya…
Thank you so much for this video. We stayed in Progreso and Chicxulub last winter and will be there again this year. The news we had seen, so far, had not told us much. You eased our fears. Thank you! Great video; covered a variety of areas; and the vocals were perfect.
Hi Dear Gringos,
Thanks for all that you do for all of us. As everyone has said the video quality and reportage were so professional. Sending big hugs your way, see you in Dec. hopefully.
Thanks for this video. My mother (who is now deceased) is from Merida. It is comforting to know her house and city were not damaged. We were in the Riviera Maya at the time, so if you don’t speak Spanish you have no idea what’s going on in the world around you.
So close and yet so far.
Thank you so much for your amazing footage of Merida. After having lived and worked in Merida for part of this year, I was relieved to see that my 2nd family and friends were fine, aside from some minor wind. I couldn’t have asked for better information and I couldn’t have found it anywhere but here. Muchas gracias…
Dear Working Gringos; Much thanks to you for all of the invaluable information that you provide. We will be moving to Chuburna at the end of the September. Your help in preparing people who wish to move to the Yucatan has made it so much easier to plan. We have one concern, maybe you can help. We will be leaving our bank accounts open in the U.S., we would like to know of an efficient system to transfer funds without incurring costly bank fees at both ends. We are aware of SAFESEND with Bank of America but prefer not to change over to that bank. Do the banks in Merida cash US checks if you open an account with them? Is there a fee to cash checks? Are the dollar bank accounts available in Merida? If you or any of your readers could help us with this, we would be greatly appreciative. Once again, thank you for the great service you provide.
Dear Anne,
We’ve written two articles on banking that answer your questions. One was published just a couple days ago and is called Writing Checks in Mexico. The other is called Banking in Yucatan. Be sure to read the comments at the bottom of the articles. One comment at the bottom of the second article discusses MONEX, which is probably the least expensive and most efficient money transfer service in Mexico.
Does anyone know for sure that a money exchange business in Plaza de Montejo cashes American checks? Are certified or cashiers more acceptable? Thank you for any help that anyone can provide. I read “Banking in Mexico” and it was a great article (as all of the Working Gringo articles are), it was a great motivator to find some simpler way of transferring living expenses to the Yucatan. Thank you, Working Gringos, for the wonderful information you provide to us. Someday, I hope to meet you. Anne