Disaster Averted in Ajijic, Lake Chapala
Residents of Ajijic, Lake Chapala experienced about 12 hours of negative anticipation as we awaited the worst hurricane in recorded history with winds of 200 miles per hour and rain of up to 20″ expected.
CNN talked of nothing else but this hurricane, Patricia, hurtling toward Mexico with a ferocity never known before which had arisen in less than 24 hours.
Friends and family from all over the world were sending messages of concern and support. Other family members were sending maps and hurrican preparedness information. One of the maps showed that Guadalajara was in the high risk zone.
I have to admit that I was not all the concerned to begin with as in over 21 years we have not experienced any serious hurricanes here inAjiic, Lake Chapala as the mountains always seem to protect us. I thought this would be the case again. As the day (Friday, Oct. 23rd) went on, however, and the news got more dire, I did start to think this Hurricane Patricia might be different.
Our son was worried about all the glass in our house so we bought some cinta canela (brown tape) and taped up all the windows. We had candles and lanterns on tap and plenty of water and food.
Hundreds of tourists from the coast were bussed to Guadalajara to be safe from Patricia.
Naturally, we assumed the power would be lost as this can happen with a normal rainy season storm. We did not lose power.
All doors and windows were closed and locked and blinds and drapes drawn. Most articles were removed from the terraza and many people drained their pools fearing flooding.
The hurricane was supposed to hit our area at 1:00 am Saturday morning and I did not sleep until after that. The dogs were also very nervous either sensing my concern or the energy of the impending hurricane.
We did have rain for 2 days and some moderately high winds but that was it. Evidently, as soon as Patricia hit the coast and moved inland it dissipated almost immediately to a tropical storm.
La Manzanilla and our dear friends at Chantli Mare in Boca de Iguanas took the brunt of the storm but Manzanillo and Puerto Vallarta which were supposed to be obliterated came out largely unscathed.
The sun came out in our beautiful paradise of Ajijic, Lake Chapala and all had returned to normal although the temperatures had dropped a little for a day or two.
Facebook had an app available were you could let your friends and family know that you were safe and had survived Patricia’s wrath.
CNN likened Patricia to the hurricane which had hit the Philippines and killed over 6,000 people. Surprisingly, the next day after destruction should have been the order of the day it was very difficult to find any news about anything to do with Patricia.
We are very grateful that, once again, we were protected by the beautiful Sierra Madres mountain which surround our beloved village in the sun.