Dean Aftermath

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This guy who lives near Xcalak on the Costa Maya has an interesting blog about his experience before, during and after Dean.

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John Heald, the cruise director on Carnival Freedom, posted the following photos from a Carnival Cruise Lines post-storm survey trip on his blog:

The port at Costa maya:





The town of Majahual:





In that last picture, just past the lighthouse and the curve in the road, is where the main strip of the town of Majahual was. There's literally nothing left.

The pier was destroyed, but the port building itself looks to have held up pretty well. The cruise lines say they'll be back to cruising there in 12-18 months. Let's hope so, because these folks are now completely dependent on the cruise industry to make a living. On the bright side, all of the major Caribbean cruise lines have pledged to help the people of Majahual and the Costa Maya rebuild, since the Red Cross and the Mexican government have left them high and dry.

This is one of my favorite Caribbean ports, and I feel bad for these folks who are getting almost no help at all.