September 2014: HURRICANE ODILE

On September 10, 2014, the precursor to Hurricane Odile developed into a tropical depression south of Mexico.
Hurricane Odile reached Category 3 and it’s peak intensity was on September 14, 2014.
It was the most powerful hurricane to ever strike the Baja California peninsula of Mexico with 125 mph wind.
Hurricane Odile was initially supposed to curve out to sea, avoiding land, so there were only minor weather alerts.
Many of the luxury resorts of Cabo San Lucas were somewhat destroyed (smashed windows, flooding roads, parts of the hotel collapsing).
Due to the heavy rain, 92% of the population of Baja California Sur experienced power outages. There were reports of 11 inches of rain in just one hour.
By September 17, 2014, Hurricane Odile dropped down to Category 2 and by September 19, 2014, it was no longer identifiable.
Hurricane Odile was the seventh major hurricane of the Eastern Pacific Hurricane Season.

Death and Injury

About 30,000 of the tourists were sent/transported to temporary shelters (including bathrooms and stairways) that were set up. Due to the storm, airports were also closed down. The aftermath resulted in about 1.22 billion USD of damages.
There were 135 people who suffered from injuries and 15 people who lost their lives. Many of those who lost their lives drowned. However, there was one indirect death involving a German tourist aboard his boat who apparently died of a heart attack.
The hurricane left thousands homeless and many in the state’s more rural and adjacent communities became completely isolated. The airports were completely damaged and about 4,000 people were stranded for close to a month due to cancelled flights.

With any type of disaster comes distress, and some people will develop a psychiatric illness.
The studies that have been done on hurricane disasters indicate that depression and PTSD can exist in survivors.
Because some disasters, like Hurricane Odile and Katrina, happen without warning, there are a number of variables that contribute to the direct and indirect psychological effects. For example, it would be important to know if survivors had any pre-traumatic experiences. In this case, a person might experience a sense of panic and/or emotional and physical exhaustion.
Every person is different and may experience the disaster in their own way. For instance, one may feel panic and numbness, and another may not feel anything at all. Every disaster is unique and so is each person’s experience of it. It’s not uncommon for survivors to experience physical changes such as headaches, muscle aches, and stomach aches.
When experiencing a traumatic event, one will go into fight-or-flight because they are trying to find a way to stay alive. Indirectly, our bodies are finding a way to keep us alive by doing what is best at the time.
Both immediately and in the long run, survivors will most likely experience flashbacks. With those flashbacks, emotions, emptiness, guilt, etc… will all be attached. Concentrating would probably be the hardest part to do after experiencing a traumatic event. However, that would be an immediate reaction and would get better with time.

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