IL Postcard

Geography Favors Panama: All is Well After Storm Surge

Date: 06/21/2006

Dear Panama First Alert Reader,

Sitting in the Hotel Miramar overlooking the Bay of Panama on Sunday, I noticed some high waves hitting the seawall that borders Balboa Avenue, spraying the passing cars. It never went over the seawall, but still…this was something unusual for Panama.

The sea continued its turbulent roiling on Monday, and finally began to diminish on Tuesday. After some investigating, I found that these larger-than-normal waves were the result of a freak storm…off the coast of New Zealand, no less!

This was not a tsunami, I have also learned, and although there was some damage all along the Pacific Coast of the Americas, there have, thankfully, been no reports of any deaths or injuries. (Tsunamis are caused by seismic shifts along the ocean floor and storm surges tend to be much larger and fast-moving.)

According to meteorologists, these waves were simply the long-distance consequences of a particularly intense low-pressure system several hundred miles off New Zealand that caused hurricane-force winds and rare snowfall at sea level. Masses of water were shoved eastward, creating unusually big waves when the swells hit the Americas.

The barrage began on Sunday--off the coast of New Zealand, as I mentioned - when swells of up to 15 feet rolled some 2,000 miles across the South Pacific. They crossed Ecuador's Galapagos Islands and continued up the coast of the Americas…to Chile, Peru, and Ecuador and on to Central America, Mexico, and Southern California. By Tuesday, the swells began to subside.

Panama is blessed by our geographical orientation…

Here in Panama, I have not heard of any damage at all to homes or property, although a friend reports that he observed some flooding in low-lying areas along the coast. It seems that Panama's east-west geographical position protects us from the havoc of nature once again!

Here is the report we've received about how this freak storm affected other areas of Pacific Coast of the Americas:

? Chile: High surf hit as far south as Antofagasta, Chile, some 870 miles north of the capital, Santiago.

? Peru: In a shantytown in Lima's port of Callao, 15 homes were damaged. About 100 were damaged in the northern coast city of Trujillo, 300 miles northwest of the capital.

? Nicaragua: In Puerto Cinto, in northwestern Nicaragua, about 40 miles from the border with Honduras, 200 people were forced to evacuate their homes after 15-foot waves surged 100 yards up onto land. Reports are that about 20 small houses in Puerto Corinto were knocked down.

? Honduras: Giant swells damaged at least 300 houses along the Gulf of Fonseca.? El Salvador: At least 30 people fled as waves damaged some 20 corrugated-metal homes in Playa El Mahajual, about 15 miles west of San Salvador. ? Guatemala: Waves destroyed the evacuated, 10-room Rancho Carrillo hotel frequented by surfers, a few restaurants, and about 50 homes in Sipacate, 60 miles south of Guatemala City.

? Mexico: In Acapulco, high waves shut down beaches, and knee-high water engulfed two miles of the city's famous Costera Miguel Aleman Boulevard, which runs along the coastline. Beachfront restaurants and nightclubs were flooded. In neighboring Oaxaca state, waves flooded seaside restaurants and hotels along Zicatela Beach, a surfing hot-spot in Puerto Escondido. Some 85 businesses were closed and 200 people were evacuated.

? California: The National Weather Service posted high surf advisories from north of Los Angeles to San Diego, and crowds watched in awe as 10-foot surf pounded Southern California's beaches Tuesday.

Our thoughts and best wishes for a speedy recovery go out to all who were negatively impacted by this storm.

Best Regards,

Brandon Clogston
International Living / Panama

For answers to any questions you may have about Panama, please e-mail our office at Panama@InternationalLiving.com.