Tropical Depression 2

[ggunn]

Yes, utility lines really need to be underground in Cozumel, but while I think new neighborhoods will do this I don't foresee this happening in existing neighborhoods during my lifetime.

I think that the same could be said for many neighborhoods in Houston.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

I thought the same as my neighborhood.. built in the early 60s.. yet we were one of the first to get underground wires. Power still goes out, but not nearly as frequently. However we have not been hurricane tested yet. Also the soil here is very sandy. The lines are buried under the sidewalk

 

[therookie]

This is where somebody says, "Whew! It is going to go harmlessly out to sea!" As a retired sea-going oceanographer, with countless (and often sleepless) hours at sea, that is NOT a comforting concept.

Thank you for this reminder. As someone who does not make their living at sea it is so easy for me to forget about all those scientists and maritimers whose day/week is directly affected by a storm...

 

[ggunn]

At least ships at sea can move out of the path of a hurricane. Oil rigs can be evacuated and flights can be diverted. Poor people in villages in the strike zone of a storm are not so lucky.

 

[NDL_Diver]

Looking at Cozumel, my neighborhood has tons of poles and overhead wiring. My son's fairly new neighborhood has none. I honestly don't know if anyone mandated that or if it was just a decision made by the developer.

Keep in mind that burying anything in Cozumel is expensive
Yes, utility lines really need to be underground in Cozumel, but while I think new neighborhoods will do this I don't foresee this happening in existing neighborhoods during my lifetime.

Digging on coral limestone is VERY expensive.
Doing it the same time as water and sewer install is the only way to make it somewhat affordable.
Retrofitting is a mess like trying to put a new sewer line in along Melgar. You hit alot of "unforseen site conditions" as we used to call it.

 

[ggunn]

I thought the same as my neighborhood.. built in the early 60s.. yet we were one of the first to get underground wires. Power still goes out, but not nearly as frequently. However we have not been hurricane tested yet. Also the soil here is very sandy. The lines are buried under the sidewalk

The sand in Florida is a completely different substance from that on Cozumel.

 

[gopbroek]

I do not think there is much sand or soil in Cozumel. I was always under the impression that the island was primarily limestone.

 

[ggunn]

I do not think there is much sand or soil in Cozumel. I was always under the impression that the island was primarily limestone.

What sand there is on Cozumel is calcium carbonate particulate, i.e., powdered limestone. True sand is silicon dioxide.

 

[gopbroek]

What sand there is on Cozumel is calcium carbonate particulate, i.e., powdered limestone. True sand is silicon dioxide.

As the Parrot fish gnaw on the reef and digest the corral polyps they discharge what becomes Cozumel sand, I have been told. The flat flakey sand you see is probably fish crap

 

[DandyDon]

The flat flakey sand you see is probably fish crap

But well washed. Sand varies a lot around the planet, i.e. pink sand where foraminifera mixes with silica, green and black sands depending on nearby volcanoes, and my favorite water-soluble gypsum that has accumulated in White Sands National Park. I got to visit the lake on military land where it precipitates before blowing out to form the dunes. I was tempted to pocket a fist-sized crystal but abstained.