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Hurricane Dean hits Mexico - Twice
Hurricane Dean roared ashore on the Yucatan
Peninsula as a Category 5 (sustained winds over 155 mph) hurricane on August
21st, 2007. It
diminished as it crossed the peninsula then regained strength as it crossed the
Gulf of Mexico before making landfall again on August 22nd on the Mexican mainland.
See the track of hurricane Dean
here http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at4+shtml/022526.shtml?swath#contents
Most recent reports show 42 people killed due to the
storm, most in Mexico. This was a remarkably low number given the size
and strength of the storm and was largely due to two factors:
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we got lucky !! The store
came ashore both times in relatively uninhabited areas. The hardest hit
people were the thousands of Maya (pronounced MY-uh) indians who populate
the area
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good preparations by the
Mexican government. They provided advance warnings and emergency shelter for
up to 50,000 people.
Notably, warnings were provided
in Spanish (of course) and Mayan (pronounced MY-ann). Many indigenous indians
speak only Mayan, which bears no resemblance to Spanish. They would not have
understood warnings given in Spanish.
Some of these Maya indians have
joined the exodus of undocumented workers to the United States and so it is
quite possible you may encounter Mexican workers who do not understand English
or Spanish. So, when a Mexican indicates (s)he does not understand your Spanish
(s)he could be a Maya. The best advice we can give you in these circumstances
is to try and find someone else in the group who can confirm whether they are
Mayan or not and perhaps can translate for you.
Try asking someone else in the
group the following question:
Is he (or she) a Maya? El (or Ella) es
Maya?
Your understanding of this
possibility can minimize misunderstandings later.
If you are talking to Spanish
speakers, you may want to ask if their family was affected by the hurricane. Try
asking the following questions:
Did the hurricane affect your
family in Mexico? El huracán afectó a su familia en México?
Do you have children? How many
boys and girls? Tiene Hijos? Cuantos niños y niñas?
Was any damage caused by the
hurricane? Hubo algún daño causado por el huracán?
Where in Mexico do your family
live? Donde vive su familia en México?
Which State? Cual estado?
Which City? Cual ciudad?
If you have additional
questions on this or other Latino topics we'll be glad to help. Please contact us:
e-mail:
alejandra@alejandra.net
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