Comments on: it’s a rainy night in Sinaloa…

By: Cynthia

Cynthia — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:21:06 +0000

When it looked as if Rita was going to slam into Houston, we heeded our order to evacuate (coastal Houston resident) and 14 hours later we were barely across town. Millions of people were evacuating right along with us. We could have turned the car around and driven home on the deserted freeway in 45 minutes. During those 14 hours, we scrambled to buy gasoline, listened to our cats howl and hoped that Rita didn’t hit us on the freeway.

When Ike was coming, we evacuated into the city of Houston and spent the night in a 4 story, new concrete and steel building. The girls and I were on the third floor and the building swayed enough that it was very, very scary! I thought it would collapse.

My thoughts are that evacuation is better than the fear. If a big one comes your way, I would head inland and miss the excitement.

Glad you guys are okay!!!!

By: Brenda

Brenda — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:13:14 +0000

I can understand that feeling of wanting to avoid a Cat. 5. We got hit here by Hurricane Henriette a couple of years ago. She was only a Catagory 1 hurricane when she hit us; but we didn’t like the wind at all.
We had pretty much decided/ were undecided/well maybe lol, to take a few days trip inland this time if it looked like Rick was going to hit us as a hurricane. Hard to decide whether to stay or leave because you don’t want to leave your place. In the end it is just stuff and lives are more important.
We got hit hard by Tropical Storm Jimena in Guaymas/San Carlos awhile back as she stalled over us for over 24 hrs., we didn’t find her to be as bad to get through as the winds weren’t that strong. With her it was the heavy rains (25 to 30 inches) but we are up high so were OK. Lots of damage done here by her because of the heavy rains and the run off of mud from the hills/mountains around us. Lots of mud/rocks in peoples homes, several feet high in some places. A disaster that will take a long time to repair.
Glad everything is well there. Good luck with the clean up.

By: Nancy

Nancy — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:01:10 +0000

Thanks everyone, we are fine. Took a while to get the power back on and then cell phones didn’t work until the evening. The afternoon was spent on cleanup! But I am working on a blog update now with some pictures and video. If you’d like to see a photo gallery of pictures go to the Noroeste site: http://www.noroeste.com.mx%2Fver_fotos.php%3Fid%3D44505275%26foto%3D44756812&h=f17409419e998a7521b981bed9bced39

It was quite the storm, and my take is that I don’t want to ever encounter a category 5 hurricane!

By: Cynthia

Cynthia — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:12:55 +0000

Just found a video of Rick moving inland and it was huge. That report said 65 mph which means higher gusts. I guess it wasn’t at all pleasant.

By: Cynthia

Cynthia — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:42:52 +0000

Just read that Rick came ashore with 55 mph winds and heavy rains. Probably no fun, but thank goodness this one fizzled like it did. It frightened me to see it on radar when the winds were 180 mph.

Hopefully, all is well and Nancy will report in soon. If power lines are down, it could take awhile.

By: Rich C.

Rich C. — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 04:56:48 +0000

I still can’t seem to find out a thing about conditions around Mazatlan and coastal Sinaloa. It appears that every news story is from a single source verbatim with the same info as at 9am. Hope you are all OK. Everyone is more interested in “active storms”.

By: Cynthia

Cynthia — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 02:17:01 +0000

Nancy, as a Houston Gulf Coast resident, I understand just how you feel. We had Ike last year and I was so frightened, then to see all the damage once it was over…well awful. I hope that you are spared damage. You may lack a few creature comforts if the winds were high and power lines are down, but it sounds so good when that howling wind quits blowing.

Looking at radar of the storm moving onto land, it appears Baja did get a nice chunk of the thing. After all these years, it still amazes me how the media talks of the storm as if the eye is all that counts. They are saying “It’s just moving on shore” when we’ve been battered by rain and wind for hours. The eye missed Baja, but the storm clipped for sure.

Looks like you guys got the most direct hit. I am sure waiting for it to end was very uncomfortable. Like I said, I hate those things!

Hope all is well with you tonight.

By: Rich C.

Rich C. — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:29:15 +0000

Hi Nancy;

I’ve been desperately trying to get a real idea of what’s happening or happened down there. I have a friend running a little resort at las Barras de Piaxtla, an hour north of you, where I plan to be this winter. Hoping it wasn’t too ferocious. All the news says is that “los Cabos is spared”.

By: Nancy

Nancy — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:19:07 +0000

It is 7 am, it has been storming since midnight. I didn’t sleep a wink, finally got up and listened to a book on my ipod and knit. Then the lights went out so I sat and then chased windows as they banged, etc. I can’t even tell you how windy it was, and we got around six inches of rain by my fountain level rain gauge. It has just quieted down and we suspect the eye is passing over us. I will try to post a little later if the internet stays up.

By: Brenda

Brenda — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 05:41:14 +0000

Take care. I am not sure it is over for you as yet by the look of the NOAA and other sites.
Hoping for the best for you all there.