Editor’s Note: Last week, Tropical Storm Lidia slammed Cabo with several feet of rain – not quite the strength of Hurricane Odile that wreaked havoc in 2014, but the storm claimed the lives of at least seven according to reports, and possibly more in the Los Cabos region. Local photographer Daniela Fernandez sent us these haunting photos of the aftermath, and an update on the situation. With the amount of major storm activity in the Pacific, Gulf, and Atlantic of late, our thoughts are with everyone affected.
Basically, most of the businesses that are near Centenario Street in Downtown San José del Cabo were inundated with two meters of water. All these businesses there have declared a total loss.
The runoff rose so much, in both Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo, that houses and an apartment building got dragged by the current. The government reported four deaths, but in actuality, there were really around 100 or more.
There were many human losses, people would take refuge in their cars because of their houses getting flooded and then the runoff current would drag whole families that were huddled inside their cars.They disappeared.
Government officials are cleaning up public beaches with heavy machinery but there’s still more to be done. It’s an ecological situation that demands attention – beaches are full of plastic bottles, foam, rubber, and unicel or polystyrene; and it all comes from construction sites that don’t get rid of their garbage properly.
The Government is prioritizing cleaning the visible beaches but no one is cleaning the lonelier ones. It’s a bummer. I haven’t been able to surf in a week because of all the cars and trash in the ocean.
If there’s something good that can come out of this, I hope it’s that a large organization can come help with cleanup efforts, or better yet it becomes the beginning of a movement to move away from plastic.
