Disaster Update

From Puerto Rico...
I was quite amazed, but my friend in San Juan was able to send out emails yesterday.  They are fine, although it was a terrifying experience.  All night the wind howled, and it felt as if their condo building was going to be torn apart.  One of their shutters was blown off, and there were a couple inches of rainwater blown into their unit.  Fortunately there seems to be no major damage.  However next door to their building there was a wooden house... that is now gone!

From Mexico...
You probably have been watching and reading the horrific news from Mexico, but here are some bits of information that I have gleaned from my contacts.

Regular readers of my blog may remember that I used to stay at an AirBnB rental on Amsterdam Avenue in the Condesa neighborhood.  I sent an email to the owner of the apartment to make sure that he and his family were all right.  He answered the next day.  They are fine, although the office building where his wife worked collapsed moments after she evacuated.  There is also quite a bit of damage to the building where I used to stay, but it is reparable.

I have been in frequent contact by phone and by email with the owner of the condo where I now stay every other month.  She lives in Chicago, and has been anxious to know if there was any damage to the building.  Since that part of the city is built on bedrock rather than the old lake bottom upon which so much of the city is constructed, she was hopeful that the building survived the quake unscathed.  She finally was able to contact the "administrador" of the building, and he said that the it is fine.  However, she asked if my friend Alejandro could go over there and check out the apartment.  There probably is plenty of minor damage... pictures fallen from the walls, items which fell from tables and cupboards... but she is most concerned that the windows are not broken.

Something that is quite scary is that there are numerous buildings that have been structurally damaged and could collapse at any time.  You might remember that back in June I mentioned this building in one of my posts...

It was once a very elegant, high-rise apartment building along Insurgentes Avenue.  It suffered damage in the 1985 quake, and since then it has been partially abandoned and has fallen into disrepair.  Alejandro told me that the remaining residents and the stores on the ground floor have been evacuated because of the danger of imminent collapse.

The damage has not been confined to Mexico City.  The states of Puebla and Morelos were hard hit also.  One bit of news that Alejandro told me comes from the town of Cholula in the state of Puebla.  I know Cholula very well since I went to school there back in the 1970s. Located in Cholula is the world's largest pyramid in terms of volume.

Today it is covered with vegetation and it looks like a hill.  On top of the pyramid the Spanish built a church in the 17th century.  I have climbed that pyramid many times, and have sat in front of that church enjoying the view.  So I was saddened when I heard that the bell towers of the church collapsed in the quake.

It has been heartbreaking to listen to the news of this dreadful disaster... especially the story of the children trapped in the rubble of the collapsed elementary school building.  But amidst this tragedy is the solidarity which the people of Mexico City have shown as they  have united, volunteering their efforts and risking their lives to search for survivors amidst the ruins.  I salute them, for they represent the finest of that country which I have loved for so many years.