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EAST CAPE, Baja California, Mexico
Hurricane John slammed into East Cape resorts at about 9 p.m. on Friday Sept 1, downing trees, breaking windows, damaging homes and power lines. While many hotels suffered serious devastation, Hotel Buena Vista Beach Resort, located 35 miles north of Los Cabos International Airport off Highway #1, was among the fortunate ones to escape major damage, according to Marketing Director Axel Valdez.
Axel, in San Diego, was in communication with his father, Chuy Valdez, via the Internet.
The large plate glass window in the hotel’s Pescador Bar was broken, as were about a half dozen other windows. Six of the resort’s landmark palm trees were snapped in half, according to Chuy.
“But all our boats were saved and except for the windows, trees and some isolated tiles we remain intact and fully operational,” said Axel.
Hurricane John appeared to be headed in a westward direction past Cabo San Lucas into the Pacific, but around 9 p.m. it suddenly veered north toward the East Cape resorts.
“We were essentially in the eye of the storm for 50 minutes with hurricane-force winds. That’s when the trees snapped and the windows smashed,” according to Axel. Ten guests rode out the storm at the hotel; others had departed earlier on Friday (Sept.1), when the path of the storm was uncertain. “Thank God nobody was injured,” said Axel.
The Mexican Federal Electrical Company was using Hotel Buena Vista Beach Resort as its headquarters as they repaired lines up and down the coast, with about 100 workers living at the hotel.
Today (Sept. 7), the resort is back in complete operation. “Everything is clean now and on Wednesday (Sept. 5) we received the first groups of guests, who were fishing the next day,” said Axel.
Chuy is saddened by the tragedy of his community, where many private homes suffered damages. “These are our friends and neighbors . . . our hearts go out to them as they pick up the pieces and re-build their dream vacation homes. We will offer them every assistance we can,” he said. |
