STORM RECOVERY REPORT

Sept. 20, 2006, Ron Grant, Mulege, Baja California Sur, Mexico:

I just spent a week looking over the Mulege area firsthand since the storm Lane. Mulege got hit hard because of the river rising over 15 feet in less then ten hours.

Everything along both sides of the river suffered lots of damage. The river road south of the river gone. Road on north side has been re-cut and the road is usable.

The Mulege lighthouse is on an island with channels on both sides.

The trailer parks just south of river all flooded to the rooftops. Homes and trailers were full of mud. Almost all of the other roads have been re-cut and are usable.

The area west of town, farms, and school all went under water and are being cleaned. Electricity and water are on in almost all areas. Telephone service is still out in most Mulege areas but cell phone service is working fine.

Stores are cleaned up and fully stocked. Roads in and out of Mulege are open. Buses, trucks, and autos are running up and down Baja's Mex 1 highway.

However, most Mulege resort beaches are still unreachable due to road washouts, and the beaches suffered lots of damage.

We have to give the Mexicans credit as they did not wait until help came; they just rolled up their sleeves and are doing the work themselves that needs doing.

Fishing has come to a standstill in the Mulege area. The co-op buildings on the south side of river, where most of the pangas work out of, went under water. The commercial fisherman are busy getting their own property in order and have not started fishing as yet.

There is little or no tourist activity in the Mulege area so sportfishing is also at a stand still. I talked to Alex and he told me there is still lots of dorado and billfish about 15 miles out in clear water but no fisherman. The fish have moved out of close-in areas due to muddy waters. However, the water cleaning up fast.

The Serenidad Hotel is still closed due to its normal September vacation but rooms are still available. Runway at the Hotel Serenidad in very good condition. It had been graded and is completely dry and fully usable.

(See "Mexico Fishing News" online for current fishing reports, photos, weather, and water temperatures from Mulege and other major Mexican sportfishing areas. Vacation travel articles, fishing maps and seasonal calendars, and fishing related information for Mulege may be found at Mexfish.com's main Mulege page.