Hurricane Damage ROUGH Summary For RV'ers

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Immediate

Mazatlan infrastructure was not damaged enough to make a yes/no difference.

But between Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta the coast was flooded and trashed in areas. I recommend waiting to hear live reports from trusted sources before committing to a destination, such as along mantenchen bay south of San Blas, or northwards at the coast at Teacapan. The area may heal by the end of December or it may not... many thousands of acres were under six feet of water for a week.

What now?

There is just too many places with too many possible outcomes to make sense or reality out of the disaster zone.

Only eyeball verification and reporting would make any sense. Be sure of the source of info.

This will be my last attempt at reporting the tragic damage done to families in the zone. If you go to the flooded zones, stuff that gets ruined in floods are the things to bring to donate.

[Tequila]

My partner is checking out Teacapan. I have not heard from him in the last 2 days, but I will let everyone know when he reports. I am assisting Baja Amigos cross at Nogales on Nov 1. They are running a mainland caravan for former customers (Who are not a pain in the butt, LOL). The owner, Dan Goy, is a good buddy of mine so I agreed to give them assistance. After San Carlos, they will be traveling a few days ahead of me so I will get reports from them as well. I beleive they are headed to Guadalajara.

BTW, my partner checked with the green angels on the status of the extension of the Tepic bypass from 15D to Compostela. It is not open yet so you still have to go through Xalisco if you are traveling to PV from Tepic. This surprises me as lasat spring it looked complete and was just barricaded. Going north you have ot pass through a toll booth (compostela-santra maria del oro road) and drive 1/4 km to check out access, which is a pain and means a double toll for nothing. I am hoping to confirm if it is open before the trek northwards in march and will advise. The Baja Amigo group will be going that way in mid december northbound, so will advise me.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Hopefully boots on the ground will verify the reality. The season really has not started yet. The early birds come in November, usually from the coldest regions of Canada. Many people wait for Christmas and that is a full two months distant.

What is relevant at this time and for weeks to come is to be extra cautious about rockfalls in steep highway cuts whether on a two lane road or a 110 Kph toll road. Too many times after heavy rain I have come upon washtub size boulders freshly fallen -through- chain link fence retainers, and -across- catch troughs on the shoulder.

[qtla9111]

This is direct from the SCT, the Secretaria of Communications and Transportation:

Road Conditions

Excerpt:


The Secretariat of Communications and Transportation (SCT) reported that in Durango, the federal highway network was not affected by the remnant of Hurricane Willa. Eduardo Bailey Elizondo, director of the center in Durango of the SCT, said that there are some minor incidents, but they do not affect the transit of vehicles. In a supervisory tour, the very severe damage was identified on the state highway, in the municipality of El Mezquital. Vehicle traffic was reopened on the highway to Mazatlan, as well as on the Durango-Parral highway, in Gómez Palacio, in addition to the Cuencamé road to Zacatecas, and the road to Torreón. "Due to the intensity of the rains we will have some problems of potholes, which will be addressed immediately by our staff," he said. He added that the strongest affectation was the collapse of the free highway to Mazatlan, which was repaired. He exhorted to drive with caution as there are sections with intense fog from kilometer 67 on the free highway to Mazatlan, as well as in the highest parts of this road. http://www.milenio.com/estados/willa-desaparece-km-50-carretera-durango-tepic

[Talleyho69]

Please be sure to pay serious attention to the information that Tequila provides. He has a partner on the ground scouting out conditions for his caravans, some of which are crossing the border as early as next week.

It's WAY TOO SOON to say things are unsuitable for visits this winter.

[Wm_Elliot]

Thanx for the update! There is not very much information about Willa damage. You Tube offerings are vague and there's not much else available as news that's not beyond paywalls.