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.
And the tourists stuck there have resorted to canibalism