I don't think that anyone should be making any comparison's with Emily. Emily blew right through.
Wilma is catastrophic! They are still being pounded!!! There has been no US news coverage of Coz, because no one can get in there. Some info has come out from a red cross shelter that states there is severe flooding, and its too dangerous to go outside. There is no assessment of damage yet. Christy had contacted us by this time already, after Emily. No word after Wilma. Its still dumping 40 inches of rain, extreme winds, massive waves and storm surge. The silence is deafening.
First: Lets all pray for the safety of our friends and their neighbors in Coz. How many days of rescue, red cross shelters, finding loved ones, etc., were necessary after Katrina? This could be worse than that.
Second: If they are all Ok, chances are minimal that many boats in Coz survived. They will not be thinking about taking the surviving boats out on a dive trip for awhile.
Third: With the severe flooding; clean water, sewage treatment, all infrastructure is at risk. That needs to be repaired first. They won't be allowing people into Coz. The availability of food, clean water, fuel, will be used for rescue and recovery efforts.
Fourth: Reports from hotels in Cancun say roofs are torn off, severe leaking inside the buildings, etc. Coz will be worse. There will be major repair necessary.
Fifth:If the industrious people of Coz put there lives together quickly, and re-open business sooner than expected, you can still expect the reefs to be damaged, and different for the rest of our lifetimes.
At this point, we need to wait for word of survival from our friends. Then, maybe we can plan a non-diving trip to volunteer with the recovery and repair of the area.
