Jimena Relief Efforts

There are a lot of photos and other information on Jimena's damage out there on the web but I did want to share a few things.

EcoMujeres in Mulege supports a bunch of good projects but my favorite is EcoAmigos kids group. They have posted a good summary of the hurricane's imapcts on Mulege and a how you can help page.

J Nichols has a first hand report from Puerto Lopez Mateos from Chris Pesenti and Chuy Lucero on his blog.

This video shot along the Malecon in Loreto shows the force of the hurricane. Note that these waves are only from the outer bands of the hurricane and Loreto is relatively protected by the islands.

Jimena's Aftermath

This satellite image taken as Hurricane Jimena passed over Mulege says it all. On the Pacific side Puerto San Carlos and Puerto Lopez Mateos were badly damaged with many homes destroyed. Some reports say as many as 90% of the buildings in Puerto Lopez Mateos were destroyed. For the thrid time in four years Mulege is badly damaged by flooding from a hurricane with a "J" name (John in 2006, Julietta in 2008, and now Jimena in 2009). Santa Rosalia is also badly damaged.

Comondu and San Carlos Hit Hard

Unfortunately, San Carlos and the Municipo of Comondu have been severely affected by Hurricane Jimena. According to El Sud Californiano, Ciudad Constitution was hit by strong winds that lasted for seven hours.

Photos

From El Sud Californiano:
El huracán Jimena devasta Comondú

As of 2:00pm PDT today the eye is over the mountains east of Conception Bay and appears headed for Mulege. Expect major flooding in all the arroyos. I hope the people that live in the mountains made it to shelter. I have heard nothing from Loreto and Mulege - with the damage at San Carlos where the electricity is produced I'm sure the power is out.

Mulege Snook

Over on the Baja Nomads forums there is talk of snook in the Mulege "River":

Mulege Snook

Sounds like a decent fishery is developing after the post hurricane work done along the flooded arroyo mouth. There is even a mention of a broken 8 weight rod! The Mulege area suffers from high levels of gill netting an shrimp trawling and the resident fishery is in fairly bad shape. As long as the gill nets stay out of the river this could develop into something. We'll keep our eyes on it.

Please do your part to protect this fishery and release all fish. I think given the sanitation problems along the river it would be fairly questionable to eat fish from this small estuary so let them grow!!! There is plenty of other great tasting fish to eat.

Hurricane Norbert

Here we go again! This one looks like it could get big. Currently a category 3 hurricane, Norbert is predicted to build to a category 4 and then weaken before making landfall. The predicted path has been steady for the last few days. Everyone between Abreojos/Mulege and Cabo San Lucas should monitor the situation and get ready. I'm adding a link to the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration's Hurricane Preparedness web page to my link list.

Tropical Storm Lowell

Although it is dying fast over the relatively cool Pacific waters, Tropical Storm Lowell appears to be headed straight for Magdelena Bay. The region is just drying out from Tropical Storm Julio and could really use a break. Stay out of the arroyos for the next few days and be prepared!

More on Tropical Storm Julio

Although this is a fly fishing blog I am posting information on the damage caused by Tropical Storm Julio to keep Baja lovers informed what is happening to the great people who live here and to let anglers know that they should be prepared for tropical weather from late August to the middle of October.

The good news is that Loreto appears to be bouncing back quickly with little more than a few sunk pangas at the marina. The kids returned to school today and clean up has begun on the beaches. During storms like this one, every piece of trash in the arroyos gets washed out to sea. Much of it ends up on the beach. The muddy trash strewn water tends to shut down fishing for a few days until the water clears. After that the remaining trees and other debris floating around can hold a lot of dorado and the fishing can really turn on.

The bad news is Mulege, Ciudad Constitution, and Ciudad Insurgentes were hit hard. The river in Mulege flooded badly with water levels approaching the flood following Hurricane John in 2006. El Sud Californiano reports that 120 Mexican and 200 foreigners homes were damaged by the flooding.

This picture of the river in Mulege was on the front page of today's El Sud Californiano.

Ciudad Insurgentes was flooded badly and according to the paper over 500 families lost their homes with widespread damage as you can see in the photo from the Sud Californiano below.

Puerto Lopez Mateos and San Juanico are inaccessible by road and I assume that many other of the more remote areas may be inaccessible for a while.

Tropical Storm Julio's Aftermath

This photo from El Sud Californiano shows fishermen from Lopez Mateos using their boat to rescue flood victims in Ciudad Insugentes.

It looks like TS Julio followed the path predicted by the National Weather Service. Early reports from El Sud Californiano indicate that there was no major wind damage and most of the heavy rains and flooding was in the municipio of Comondú. From the photos in the paper it appears that there is serious flooding in Ciudad Insurgentes and Ciudad Constitución.

The arroyo in Mulege flooded badly again damaging many houses along the "river" and a soldier was killed there when his Hummer was swept away while crossing an arroyo. The Sud Californiano reports that there are 39 interuptions to the highway between Cuidad Consitution and Santa Rosalia - I'm not sure what that means but the road is likely impassable at least until the arroyos stop running.

Tropical Storm Julio

This map from the US National Hurricane Center's web page for Tropical Storm Julio just about says it all. The Mexican government has issued a tropical storm warning from Cabo San Lucas north to Abreojos and Mulege. If you are down south expect lots of rain and wind. Stay out of the arroyos - flash flooding will be a problem.

Here's a link to El Sud Californiano's coverage of Tormenta Tropical Julio for you Spanish readers.