As Jimmy Buffett would say:
I don't know the reason I stayed here all season,
Nothin' to show but this brand new tattoo -
But it's a real beauty, a Mexican cutie,
How it got here I haven't a clue.
Wastin' away again in Margaritaville....
And that was BEFORE the hurricane.
I've never had the least, even remotest desire to ever go to Mexico. The place is totally uninteresting to me.
The cluelessness is worse that it appears at first. All the hotels in Cancun have English-language cable TV, including international CNN. You can buy the daily New York Times and Miami Herald there, as well. People on vacation in a hurricane zone during hurricane season need to use a little common sense and check the weather reports daily. Even if you couldn't get a flight out, you could rent a car and drive to Merida, an inland city that is safe, and beautiful, well before the storm began to close in.
Cozumel/Cancun message board
http://stormcarib.com/reports/2005/mexico.shtml
"I feel the Mexican government is helping here to an extent, doing the best they can," said Kevin Riley, town finance administrator for Paw Paw, Mich. "But the U.S. has done nothing. Where is our government? They are only preparing for Florida. They forgot about us."
I am absolutely THRILLED to hear that the US government is not concerning themselves with the needs of incompetent American dopes stranded in other countries through their own inaction.
Paw, paw Mr Riley, the Mexican government is obviously much better suited to the sort of hand holding and baby sitting you need in your life. Please stay where you are.
Stuck on stupid again?
Why anyone would go to Mexico on vacation is beyond me. I've been there on business many times (unfortunately). It's a third world dump. Just like Venezuela. And the food is horrible.
And people wonder why some stayed in NOLA for Katrina and Rita. Some of these tourists stayed because they had "never been in a hurricane before".
Gee, what fun.
Now they know why most people, when given a chance to evacuate, take it. And, when you have a chance to eavcuate before a hurricane strikes Mexico, you REALLY want to take it.
Let's get a little perspective here. These stranded tourists will eventually get home. After a period of recovery from this traumatic experience, they'll continue their lives in peace and comfort.
When they someday recount the hardships they suffered through during this vacation, I wonder how many of them will give a passing thought to the local population that will be living with the aftermath of this storm for many years to come?
The SENSIBLE thing to do ... Lots of bus lines and trains in Mexico, all connecting to El Norte.
Well, it's a free country and to each his own. Personally, I don't believe in feeding the hands that bite the crapola out of you. It's not like these are the only two vacation spots on God's green earth.
Leni
How many stranded in New Mexico?