Hello and Hurricane Updates from Christi's house in Cozumel...

[Maya]

We stand together - ready and waiting to help the diving community and the villages of extraordinarily courageous and resilient people of the Yucatan. You are all in my constant thoughts and prayers.

 

[Kaiser442]

Yeah for sure - let us know if we can do anything to help once it is over.

 

[ggunn]

The latest satellite photos show the western eyewall squarely atop Cozumel, and the eye itself is wider than Cozumel is long. The center of the storm is just a little southeast of the center of Cozumel, and is moving northwest. It could not have been any more direct a hit.

 

[ggunn]

According the the WSJ, Gilbert was 888 millibars and Wilma is 882; Wilma, at least according to the Journal, is worse.

FWIW, the NHC's records show Gilbert as a Cat 5 storm with 185 mph winds when it hit Cozumel. This is an excerpt from the latest NHC bulletin on Wilma:

ESTIMATED MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE 930 MB
EYE DIAMETER 30 NM
MAX SUSTAINED WINDS 125 KT WITH GUSTS TO 155 KT.

I'm hoping that means the impact on Cozumel is less than that of Gilbert.

 

[Natasha]

I've been posting on D2D for about 2 years under another screenname, but am a good friend of Christi's. I've also been a good friend of Jason and his wife's for two years and have spent a lot of time back and forth between their house and mine. I've got a lot of other SB friends who also post on D2D, although they may not recognize my name here - although they would definitely recognize my name from D2D.

Oh, Ok. Thanks for clearing that up. Please accept my late 'welcome' to scubaboard. Any word for Christi?

 

[Otter]

I've been posting on D2D for about 2 years under another screenname, but am a good friend of Christi's. I've also been a good friend of Jason and his wife's for two years and have spent a lot of time back and forth between their house and mine. I've got a lot of other SB friends who also post on D2D, although they may not recognize my name here - although they would definitely recognize my name from D2D.

Which appears to be RIDiver

 

[SadiesMom]

No problem, Natasha - I can understand. I did just show up here recently and start posting - totally understandable. No more word from Christi since about 10:15am EDT -- I'm guessing that means either that the phones are down or that they're using this time while the eye is directly over them and they have a few hours of blessed calm to get some much needed sleep before all hell breaks loose again. I'm not calling her, as I don't want to wake anyone in case they *are* getting some sleep - God knows they need all they can get. I'll post another update on the "Updates from Christi" thread if I hear anything more. Thanks for the welcome

 

[SadiesMom]

FWIW, the NHC's records show Gilbert as a Cat 5 storm with 185 mph winds when it hit Cozumel. This is an excerpt from the latest NHC bulletin on Wilma:

ESTIMATED MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE 930 MB
EYE DIAMETER 30 NM
MAX SUSTAINED WINDS 125 KT WITH GUSTS TO 155 KT.

I'm hoping that means the impact on Cozumel is less than that of Gilbert.

I think part of that will depend on whether or not Wilma stalls over the Yucatan penninsula, leaving Coz to get pounded for potentially another 24 hours by hurricane force winds (whatever category they are). What we need to pray for now is that she clears the heck out of there as quickly as possible.

BTW - I haven't heard from Christi et al since 10:15am...I'd imagine that means that either the phones are down or that they're using this brief period of calm while they're in the eye to grab some much-needed sleep. I'm not calling her just in case it's the latter.

I'll update you all when I hear from them again. I do read your thoughts, wishes and prayers to them and believe me - they're much appreciated :10:

 

[pilot fish]

http://www.cira.colostate.edu/ramm/rmsdsol/TROPICAL.html

Looks ominous

 

[ggunn]

http://www.cira.colostate.edu/ramm/rmsdsol/TROPICAL.html

Looks ominous

Yeah, especially the rate of rotation versus the rate of travel of the eye.