WoW

To millions, WoW stands for World of Warcraft. Since I'm not a Gamer, I wouldn't know. I might be flip and say it's: Weary of Weather, that I'm tired of getting fooled by my local forecast office, though the stakes are exactly zero here at the beginning of September in the Inland Valley. With so many things competing for my attention these days, it's too easy to slack off with a smirk and a quip. No matter, what will be, will be...or some such self serving drivel.

It turns out I'm of sober heart and mind today. I've been catching up with Hurricane Jimena's aftermath across the Central Baja Peninsula. It's not good. There may be as many as 128K refugees as of Friday Sept 4th.

The BajaNomads H.Jimena thread stands at 47 Pages as of Sunday afternoon 9/6/2009! Fortunately, loss of life is not widespread. Damages are though.

Early reports say 1500+ utility poles are down, more than 100 High-Voltage Transmission Towers have toppled, and several Power Sub-Stations sustained damages. Water infrastructure is worse off, sadly. Highway 1 is just passable in many areas, and several mid-Peninsula Airstrips are unusable.

In anticipation of Jimena's landfall, CFE and Telmex (Electricity and Telephone) pre-positioned extra crews drawn from mainland Mexico, to provide fast response. They've gotten a big jump on restoration, but the damages are well spread out, so it will take some time yet.

The change in tenor of the posts on the Nomad's Jimena thread truly are heartening. The focus has evolved from situation updates, to stock taking, reconnecting and checking in, to organizing private relief missions. Nomads are truly sainted people. What would you expect? To know Baja and her people is to Love Baja...Unconditionally.

The Baja Bush Pilots have stepped up to the plate. Their advanced teams have been down south for a couple of days surveying the situation on the ground. Checking first-hand on needs from town to town, checking on airstrip conditions, aviation fuel availability, relief infrastructure, etc. While north of the border, the BBP's are lining up donations and planning drop-off and pick-up locations around the Southwest.

Poor Mulege! The lovely town took the brunt of Jimena, and was just recovering from Hurricane John...They've gotta be thinking what is it with Hurricanes that have names starting with the letter J? Juliette, John, and now Jimena have all done the Devil's bidding on the Rio Mulege and the town. Many homes along the river (locally known as the arroyo) couldn't sustain three direct hits. Reports say the river was Two Meters higher than when H.John clobbered town.

Out on the Pacific side, Puerto Lopez Mateos, center of the Bahia Magdalena Commercial Fishing Industry, may have suffered damage or destruction to as much as 90% of the town's structures.

Here's some links to follow along, and to help:

BajaNomad's Jimena Thread

Baja Bush Pilots

As it turns out, I am weary from weather...just not like I thought. Just reading about Mid-Baja's woes has me Bone Weary. Pray for Baja