In Boston, it rained every day except on the day we arrived and for a few hours when the sun seemingly miraculously broke through just in time for my daughter and her novio to exchange their vows on a small, flower-strewn dock on a pretty lake in front of the houses of her father and grandfather. In Houston, of course, it had not rained at all for weeks. Here back in the Xalapa area, it rained way too much, as we discovered yesterday upon talking to friends and neighbors. There were horrific storms that frightened even people who have lived with storms their whole lives. The quantity of rain that fell sounds biblical.
According to Miguel Zalazar, writing in El Diario de Xalapa today, "the rain left more than 60 colonies in Xalapa emergency zones. The Director of Civil Protection for the city, Silverio Avila Contreras, said also that the rain had been more intense than anything in recent years. He said [and this sounds a little odd to me] that the amount of water that fell in four hours was equal to that which had fallen in two years."
The greatest damage was in Xalapa and to its north, west and east. We live to the south, so our area seems to have escaped the worst. And since Jim and I weren't here for the storms, we have awakened only to beautiful skies with lazy, drifting clouds crossing them. Everything is green and fresh.
Climate folks say that we are likely to have more rain in bigger storms separated by less rain and stretches of warm weather instead of the daily rains of tradition.
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I am going to be shifting over to Jim's satellite for my internet coverage. Mr. Slim's Infinitum DSL service has deteriorated to the extent that I cannot upload pictures. When we do make the change, more pictures on the blog.