It is feeling a little bit like “Groundhog Day” in Puerto Vallarta as we closely watch the trajectory of Hurricane Trudy, the fourth hurricane to come our way in recent weeks. If we are lucky, the storm will follow the path that Polo, Rachel and Simón took and skirt the coast without making landfall. While the storms’ impacts have been relatively moderate in Vallarta, they have caused flooding on the Baja California peninsula and El Niño-linked erosion damage in Southern California, and our hearts go out to communities affected.
Major headlines this month include the ordered demolition of a controversial condo complex in San Pancho, Nayarit; infrastructure issues and the tragic loss of five lives due to recent storms; the rollout of a new program to bring free drinking water fountains to schools, sports, civic and tourist areas throughout the city; and devastating tree culling at the Marina Golf Course.
Recent storms cause beach erosion, flooding and five deaths
Puerto Vallarta is recovering from four back-to-back hurricanes that skirted the city’s southern coast and Banderas Bay. The first hurricane, Polo, rolled in on Sept. 23, followed by Rachel, then Simón and Trudy. The storms brought major tidal surges and pounding waves to Vallarta’s beaches, filling the Malecón with rocks and sand, eroding beaches and leaving just rocks behind.
Impressive photos and videos show waves hitting the Malecón seawall and bouncing many feet into the air. Communities of Yelapa and Boca de Tomatlán were evacuated as a preventative measure as Hurricane Simón approached. Heavy rainfall also caused sewer system backups in the Versailles neighborhood and street flooding in many parts of town. Authorities also closed local beaches, but tragically, one young woman was swept away and is presumed drowned at Playa de Oro during Hurricane Polo. Four people, including two children, were killed when rushing water swept away their home in La Cuesta in the municipality of Talpa de Allende.
Profepa orders demolition of San Pancho beachfront condo
On Oct. 7, the Federal Attorney’s Office for Environmental Protection (Profepa) ordered the demolition of two towers of the Punta Paraíso condo complex in San Pancho, Nayarit. The towers sit directly on the beach in this coastal community and have been the subject of protests by residents for over a decade due to the buildings’ environmental impacts and encroachment into the protected Federal Maritime Terrestrial Zone.
Hurricanes Rachel and Simón pounded the beachfront towers, severely damaging their foundations, causing the towers to lean and necessitating the evacuation of residents.
The developer, Pacific Lifestyle Properties, was also ordered to pay a 96,220-peso (US $5,216) fine for building in the federal zone. Score one for Mother Nature and zero for illegal development.
Seapal rolls out free drinking fountains in public schools, sports fields and tourist spots
Remember to bring your refillable water bottles on your next trip to Puerto Vallarta because visitors and residents alike will soon have access to free, purified drinking water in various locations throughout the city.
This summer, Puerto Vallarta’s municipal water utility, Seapal, launched a program to bring purified drinking water fountains to public schools, civic, sports and tourist spots around Vallarta. The program aims to improve public health, increase access to safe, free drinking water, and reduce plastic pollution.
New fountains have already been installed in several schools and the Emiliano Zapata Municipal Market, and several more are planned for the Unidad Deportiva Agustín Flores Contreras sports complex, Centro Cultural y Módulo Deportivo La Lija, Seapal Vallarta’s central offices, Unidad Municipal Administrativa (UMA), and on the Malecón.
Marina Golf Course culls trees in major remodel, angering residents
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The Marina Golf Course has been systematically cutting down dozens of large, mature trees over the past several weeks, angering residents and displacing wildlife. Golf course administrators claim the culling of trees is part of a comprehensive remodeling project and that they plan to plant more trees than are being removed.
In the meantime, however, residents must wait decades for new trees to grow to the size of the old ones and face the constant sound of chainsaws and the sadness of watching trees being felled for many more days.
The trees being removed are mostly a nonnative species of ficus, but they provide habitat for native birds such as white ibises, great kiskadees, golden-cheeked woodpeckers, chachalacas and more.
The course has been closed most of the summer and fall during the remodeling project. Rest assured, visitors to Vallarta coming to the course this year will see a drastically different landscape.
MND Local Puerto Vallarta: Helping out after hurricanes, planning for Día de Muertos
They say the only constant is change. Let us just hope the next changes coming to Vallarta are less destructive and more positive, like the free drinking water program. But hurricane season is not over yet, so we will just have to wait and see.
Debbie Slobe is a writer and communications strategist based in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco. She blogs at Mexpatmama.com and is a senior program director at Resource Media. Find her on Instagram and Facebook.
