Lessons of Past Disasters Helped Mexico Sidestep the Brunt of a Hurricane William Neuman and Elisabeth Malkin - The New York Times
go to original October 26, 2015

Clean up begins in Mexico after Hurricane Patricia (BBC/NewsUK)

Meteorologists called Hurricane Patricia one of the most ferocious ever seen in the Western Hemisphere, a monster bearing down with unprecedented energy on the Pacific coast of Mexico on Friday as residents and tourists evacuated or hunkered down in fear. But just hours later, the storm had passed over and, despite uprooted trees, landslides blocking some roads and the destruction of humble homes, there were no immediate reports of any deaths or damage to major infrastructure.

Experts said that the result was a combination of luck — the storm, for instance, passed between two cities but hit neither directly — and capable planning in a country that had learned from past disasters.

The Mexican authorities “learned some hard lessons” from botched or inadequate responses to earlier catastrophes, said Richard Olson, the director of the Extreme Events Institute at Florida International University in Miami. “It looks like they got this one right.”

The authorities were then effective in moving some of those who remained in the area into shelters and persuading others to stay in their homes. In some cases, emergency management workers took to the streets with bullhorns to warn people of the coming storm.

“The important thing is that people responded,” Gerardo Ruiz Esparza, the secretary of communications and transportation, said in a televised news conference on Saturday. “If we hadn’t had that response, I’m sure we would be talking about other incidents.”

Read the rest at The New York Times

Related: Mexicans Take Stock of Patricia’s Damage, Clean Up After Storm (Al Jazeera)

Related: Hurricane Patricia: How to Help with Relief Efforts Right Now (USA Today)

Related: Insured Losses in Mexico from Hurricane Patricia Estimated at Less Than $200 Million (PropertyCasualty360)

Related: Here's How to Help Animals Affected by Hurricane Patricia (The Dodo)

Photo: Kirsten Luce/The New York Times

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