Jinjer:
It's not really even fun diving in the wake of a hurricane evacuation. I did it during Ivan and ended up feeding the fish! :l:
Dangerous Hurricane Dean
- Thread starter ggunn
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It's not really even fun diving in the wake of a hurricane evacuation. I did it during Ivan and ended up feeding the fish! :l:
Jinjer
Contributor
TheRedHead:
Well I am sure the problem for those divers yesterday was that the weather was absolutely gorgeous on the island. You would have never dreamed that a hurricane was coming, other than all the businesses/homes being boarded up and the boats being removed from water. So I am sure the diving, for those that did it was spectacular yesterday.
But even though that was the case, I still contend it was selfish for anyone to try to get out diving versus just finding a way to leave.
Hank49
Contributor
parrotheaddiver:
Thanks, you never know...but historically, most of the ones that hit here formed right here in the Caribbean....the ones that track in from out in the Atlantic have passed by north of us.
Regarding suggestions to send money to victims in the aftermath.....there may be no place to spend it. Packages of bottled water, canned foods, milk, lighters, rice, cooking gas.... are what is needed immediately after.
Jackie:
Jackie, there are many organizations who use other resources to absorb organizational costs & all donations go directly to the cause. Churches come to mind most readily. My church, for example, routinely earmarks funds in advance out of tithes- funds specifically for such purposes & the volunteers who go often pay their own way on the trips. In fact, when Orlando was hit by tornadoes a while back, my pastor stood up & specifically told us that we did not need to contribute- we already had sufficient funds, plans were in place, & volunteer teams were already being formed to go up to the area to help out. A preliminary assessment of how best we could help had already been made by a group of volunteers on their way back from ongoing relief efforts in Mississippi. The advantage of finding such organizations is that pooled resources can be used much more effectively than individual ones. Food for thought.
Mawg
Contributor
Hank49:
The latest track from NOAA , as of 11:00 am Houston time on Sunday morning 8/19/07 shows Dean passing approx. 65 miles south of Cozumel next tues. morning at around 2:00 to 3:00 in the morning probably as a Cat 4 storm. It has taken a more westerly path of late and that is good news for Cozumel. Lets hope it continues to do that and goes further south of Cozumel.
slmangelotx
New
Christi - you and everyone else in coz our in our prayers -
my daughter and i were to be there tomorrow - her first trip - and we are both sad - not for the trip - but hoping and praying that everyone there stays safe - and that the recovery will not be like wilma -
hang tough - and we'll come say hi when we do make it down - let us know if anything is needed and it will be shipped - everyone in angelo dives in coz - and you have a lot of prayers coming from west texas
my daughter and i were to be there tomorrow - her first trip - and we are both sad - not for the trip - but hoping and praying that everyone there stays safe - and that the recovery will not be like wilma -
hang tough - and we'll come say hi when we do make it down - let us know if anything is needed and it will be shipped - everyone in angelo dives in coz - and you have a lot of prayers coming from west texas
All of my SB friends & the many strangers in the path of Dean are in my prayers. God speed.
There are a few in a few places - enough for the media to find and broadcast to the world - who are professional wards of the state. But the vast majority of Americans get to work cleaning up immediately, sending help or going themselves. Just because you can find those few, don't bring out the broad brush of "many." It is a tiny percentage of the whole who whine, and who whine about the whiners.Jinjer:
In the aftermath of a disaster you can be a participant in the recovery or not. All you have to ask yourself is which you are.
Rick
I hope for the best for everyone in Dean's path.
To all of the folks who are bashing tourists who showed after you think they should have..., well, it is a little more complicated than you seem to think. Say, for instance, you have booked a trip for 8 divers to go to Playa Del Carmen, stay in a resort and do some diving/training with a local operator from Aug 18-25. Figure that each of those divers was on the hook for travel/training/diving expenses of about $2500 and figured to spend additional money once arriving. Now as the departure date gets closer, a storm develops that might impact the area. Three days before scheduled departure, you call the airline - they say if we are flying and you don't go, it's on you. You call the resort and are told come on down, the buildings are strong and the beer is cold. You call the dive operator and he says, "we were back in the water two days after Wilma, come on down." The projected storm tracks are widely divergent with some showing a direct hit and some showing the storm going somewhere else. Divers are packed and ready to go. Two days out, the storm tracks are tightening so you make the round of calls again - still the same answers. Friday afternoon (before a pre-dawn Saturday departure), more calls are placed. Still no one says don't come - the airline says they're still flying. Late Friday afternoon the dive operator calls and says maybe this isn't a good idea. Finally, Friday night you get the airline to give you a credit (not refund) towards a future trip and at 10PM you cancel the trip - hoping that you made the right decision. It certainly wasn't the easy decision that it should have been and it seems like the dive operators/resorts on Cozumel made decisions earlier than mainland ones. Maybe the folks who did show up didn't chase answers/information quite as hard. Just wanted y'all to see another perspective.
To all of the folks who are bashing tourists who showed after you think they should have..., well, it is a little more complicated than you seem to think. Say, for instance, you have booked a trip for 8 divers to go to Playa Del Carmen, stay in a resort and do some diving/training with a local operator from Aug 18-25. Figure that each of those divers was on the hook for travel/training/diving expenses of about $2500 and figured to spend additional money once arriving. Now as the departure date gets closer, a storm develops that might impact the area. Three days before scheduled departure, you call the airline - they say if we are flying and you don't go, it's on you. You call the resort and are told come on down, the buildings are strong and the beer is cold. You call the dive operator and he says, "we were back in the water two days after Wilma, come on down." The projected storm tracks are widely divergent with some showing a direct hit and some showing the storm going somewhere else. Divers are packed and ready to go. Two days out, the storm tracks are tightening so you make the round of calls again - still the same answers. Friday afternoon (before a pre-dawn Saturday departure), more calls are placed. Still no one says don't come - the airline says they're still flying. Late Friday afternoon the dive operator calls and says maybe this isn't a good idea. Finally, Friday night you get the airline to give you a credit (not refund) towards a future trip and at 10PM you cancel the trip - hoping that you made the right decision. It certainly wasn't the easy decision that it should have been and it seems like the dive operators/resorts on Cozumel made decisions earlier than mainland ones. Maybe the folks who did show up didn't chase answers/information quite as hard. Just wanted y'all to see another perspective.
Jackie
Contributor
I am not looking to provide relief aid, because as you said, it is more efficiently done by others. (ie bulk items, food, water)
Not for nothing, but there are actually people in CZM that work for a living and may not have income for sometime to come. People need to rebuild their homes and replace items destroyed.
I doubt that there is any type of insurance for these contingencies.
It's my personal issue that I don't expect any rational person to understand when it comes to my aversion to organizations- especially big ones. Small local ones have more of my confidence as they are closer to the source and better understand the needs. Hopefully, there is less of a chance that funds are not misdirected through inefficency. I'm studing to be an EMT and reviewing the inefficency of both govt and NGO's aid and intervention is just mind boggling. A few small examples-massive mounts of baby food sent to centers that have no babies. Babies in places where there is no babyfood. A dozen showers dropped off at one center and none at another. That's the idea.
I'd rather have a few enterprising local people try and figure it out, esp in a small place like COZ.
But that is just me. I do not expect anyone to agree. So there is no need to try and convince me that I am wrong. I may well be !
Not for nothing, but there are actually people in CZM that work for a living and may not have income for sometime to come. People need to rebuild their homes and replace items destroyed.
I doubt that there is any type of insurance for these contingencies.
It's my personal issue that I don't expect any rational person to understand when it comes to my aversion to organizations- especially big ones. Small local ones have more of my confidence as they are closer to the source and better understand the needs. Hopefully, there is less of a chance that funds are not misdirected through inefficency. I'm studing to be an EMT and reviewing the inefficency of both govt and NGO's aid and intervention is just mind boggling. A few small examples-massive mounts of baby food sent to centers that have no babies. Babies in places where there is no babyfood. A dozen showers dropped off at one center and none at another. That's the idea.
I'd rather have a few enterprising local people try and figure it out, esp in a small place like COZ.
But that is just me. I do not expect anyone to agree. So there is no need to try and convince me that I am wrong. I may well be !
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