IH Riviera Maya : Spanish courses in Mexico

Hurricane Wilma: Damage Report

Little damage to IH Riviera Maya School, Playa del Carmen back to normal

Updated, Monday 7 November 2005
Hurricane Wilma did do quite a lot of damage along the Riviera Maya coast, but IH Riviera Maya was very fortunate.

The school building was hardly damaged at all. No broken windows, no flooding, even the garden has survived (picture, bottom right).

Our student residence lost a couple of windows and a few of the air conditioning machines on the roof were blown off, with the patio roof being slightly damaged (see image, bottom right). But again, compared to the damage caused elsewhere, we got off very lightly.

Water and electricity supplies to the residence have been restored, and the phone line is now available (+52 984 879 48 29).

Most of the town has recovered its electricity and water. Most shops and restaurants are open for business and life is returning to normal.

Both Cancun and Miami airports have reopened and should be fully functional shortly.

Road links from Cancun to Playa del Carmen have also been restored.

Activities at the school: little interruption

As far as the school's activities are concerned, all Spanish classes continued almost without disruption, although arrivals did suffer some delay.

The CELTA course which was due to start on Monday 24th October began on Thursday 27th instead (see image, left).

Days lost will either be recuperated on Saturdays or at the end of the course.

Pretty much back to normal

All in all, things have got back to normal amazing quickly. "The place is virtually back to normal," says Marta Conesa (left), Director of Studies at IH Riviera Maya. "It's almost as if Wilma never happened!"

The hurricane season

Note that the hurricane season on the Riviera Maya is normally over by the end of October, and rarely causes anything like the damage seen along parts of the coast this year.

After the storm...

Playa del Carmen beach, post-Wilma, remarkably unscathed

Playa del Carmen, post-Wilma

A few leaves certainly missing on the trees there, and not too many tourists about...

Playa del Carmen, post-Wilma

But the town, as you can see, is getting back to normal remarkably quickly

Playa del Carmen, post-Wilma

Wilma did make a hole in the roof over the residence patio (albeit not a very big one!)

Playa del Carmen, post-Wilma

And that's the garden at IH Riviera Maya (as you see, we remembered to bring the umbrellas in before Wilma hit!)