<font size="6"><center>Authorities Try to Control Cancun Looting</font size></center>
<font size="4"><center>"... hundreds emptied entire downtown blocks of merchandise,
hiding when soldiers appeared, then returning to rip open
metal store shutters and haul away <u>clothing</u>, <u>appliances</u>
and <u>anything else</u> they could find." </font size></center>
The Guardian
Monday October 24, 2005 2:46 PM
By WILL WEISSERT
CANCUN, Mexico (AP) - Troops and federal police moved in Monday to control looting at stores and shopping centers ripped open by Hurricane Wilma. Hunger and frustration erupted among Mexicans and stranded tourists in this weather-ravaged Caribbean resort.
As reporters watched Sunday, hundreds emptied entire downtown blocks of merchandise, hiding when soldiers appeared, then returning to rip open metal store shutters and haul away clothing, appliances and anything else they could find.
Police shot in the air to scare away looters, and some crowds responded by throwing rocks and chucks of concrete.
``As soon as the hurricane arrived, the people went robbing,'' said Eva Bernabe. ``It's sad because Cancun is a relaxed place. We're good people. It's not like this normally.''
On Monday, the waist-deep floodwaters had largely receded from the streets dotted with shattered and twisted buildings, but most in Cancun were still without electricity.
The looting, which police said was widespread, shocked many Mexicans. National television networks on Monday ran images of dozens of looters working through stores like a swarm of ants, then packing loot into cars, trucks or precariously loaded bicycles.
Officials feared looters would turn on tourists, so they evacuated more than 30 foreigners from an area overrun by people raiding stores.
Arturo Campos said his shoe store was emptied by looters
``The hurricane was ugly,'' he said. ``The people were worse.''
President Vicente Fox, who toured the region Sunday and Monday, ordered Mexico's army to take a larger presence in the city to halt looting and smooth problems in getting aid to all who need it.
Cancun, booming with tourism, has some of Mexico's highest wages. But it also has a high rate of migration from the impoverished countryside and many people have few nearby relatives. The city's glitz and coastline also have attracted drug gangs.
At first, people who had been trapped in shelters or flooded homes for two days were seen taking bottles of water or cans of tuna from convenience stores.
At a convenience store, Cancun resident Alex Aguilar took batteries and aspirin: ``The window was broken, so we just went in and got what we wanted.''
Soon, however, a tougher crowd turned toward more lucrative goods.
Dozens were arrested as military officials and police set up patrols and checkpoints to seize looted goods.
Downtown, the city handed out food packages that included rice, beans, crackers and cooking oil, and people stood in line for blocks to collect.
Two cargo flights landed at the Cancun airport with emergency supplies, although the airport remained closed to commercial flights.
Jarle Teigland, of Bergen, Norway, wandered the streets with his suitcase, looking for a ride to the airport.
``I know it's closed, but when it opens, we want to be on the first flight,'' he said. ``It's better to wait there, than to wait here.''
State officials said at least three people were killed during the storm. One was hit by a falling tree and two others died from injuries they received when a gas tank exploded.
Four bodies were also found floating in flood waters on the island of Cozumel. But officials said it was unclear if the deaths were related to the storm because the remains were badly decomposed, indicating they may have died before Wilma hit.
Last week, Wilma killed 13 people in Jamaica and Haiti.
On the isolated island of Cozumel, a popular spot with divers and cruise ships, the storm knocked out many of the island's docks, making it difficult for the navy to arrive.
``Right now, there is nothing to buy on the island,'' resident Daniela Ayala told The Associated Press by phone. ``People are in the streets looking for food, and they are starting to get desperate.''
State officials were trying to clear airstrips on Cozumel and nearby Isla Mujeres so that planes could land with aid.
People trickled back to the city's elite hotel strip, where white-sand beaches had seemingly evaporated in some areas, exposing the concrete foundations of high-rise buildings to the elements.
Dennis Catesby, of Coventry, England, returned to his original hotel room with about nine others to take bedding and raid the minibar of beer and supplies.
``After three days in a shelter, it was minibar time for us,'' said Catesby, who was married on Monday in Cancun. ``The beer is going to be free today.''
Others were more desperate. Standing alongside the road in front of the damaged building housing his jungle show, animal trainer Pepe Juarez begged for food for his two tigers and two jaguars.
``I've eaten. I'm OK. But the animals are sick,'' he said, holding a sign that read: ``We don't have food. We need help.''
Windows were blown out at the city's main public hospital and about an inch of water stood on the floor of the intensive care unit, although a generator provided electricity.
``Almost nothing works, and there are many patients we can't take care of,'' nurse Dayna Chan said.
The U.S. Embassy was sending consular officials to shelters to help tourists prepare for leave. The U.S. government also offered to donate $200,000 in hurricane aid.
The storm was a devastating blow to Mexico's $11 billion foreign tourism industry. Many hotels could take weeks - if not months - to repair.
Fox said federal officials were racing to reopen the airport and restore power and water service.
``It is clear that we need quickly to reconstruct the economy, and the economy here is called tourism,'' Fox said.
Quintana Roo, the Caribbean coastal state that includes the hurricane-ravaged resorts, accounted for half of the nights spent by foreign tourists in Mexico last year.
Nearly 700,000 people live in the Quintana Roo municipalities hit by Wilma, a region that was populated by just a few thousand before the development of Cancun and the other rapidly growing resort centers.
^---
On the Net:
National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5366049,00.html
<font size="4"><center>"... hundreds emptied entire downtown blocks of merchandise,
hiding when soldiers appeared, then returning to rip open
metal store shutters and haul away <u>clothing</u>, <u>appliances</u>
and <u>anything else</u> they could find." </font size></center>
The Guardian
Monday October 24, 2005 2:46 PM
By WILL WEISSERT
CANCUN, Mexico (AP) - Troops and federal police moved in Monday to control looting at stores and shopping centers ripped open by Hurricane Wilma. Hunger and frustration erupted among Mexicans and stranded tourists in this weather-ravaged Caribbean resort.
As reporters watched Sunday, hundreds emptied entire downtown blocks of merchandise, hiding when soldiers appeared, then returning to rip open metal store shutters and haul away clothing, appliances and anything else they could find.
Police shot in the air to scare away looters, and some crowds responded by throwing rocks and chucks of concrete.
``As soon as the hurricane arrived, the people went robbing,'' said Eva Bernabe. ``It's sad because Cancun is a relaxed place. We're good people. It's not like this normally.''
On Monday, the waist-deep floodwaters had largely receded from the streets dotted with shattered and twisted buildings, but most in Cancun were still without electricity.
The looting, which police said was widespread, shocked many Mexicans. National television networks on Monday ran images of dozens of looters working through stores like a swarm of ants, then packing loot into cars, trucks or precariously loaded bicycles.
Officials feared looters would turn on tourists, so they evacuated more than 30 foreigners from an area overrun by people raiding stores.
Arturo Campos said his shoe store was emptied by looters
``The hurricane was ugly,'' he said. ``The people were worse.''
President Vicente Fox, who toured the region Sunday and Monday, ordered Mexico's army to take a larger presence in the city to halt looting and smooth problems in getting aid to all who need it.
Cancun, booming with tourism, has some of Mexico's highest wages. But it also has a high rate of migration from the impoverished countryside and many people have few nearby relatives. The city's glitz and coastline also have attracted drug gangs.
At first, people who had been trapped in shelters or flooded homes for two days were seen taking bottles of water or cans of tuna from convenience stores.
At a convenience store, Cancun resident Alex Aguilar took batteries and aspirin: ``The window was broken, so we just went in and got what we wanted.''
Soon, however, a tougher crowd turned toward more lucrative goods.
Dozens were arrested as military officials and police set up patrols and checkpoints to seize looted goods.
Downtown, the city handed out food packages that included rice, beans, crackers and cooking oil, and people stood in line for blocks to collect.
Two cargo flights landed at the Cancun airport with emergency supplies, although the airport remained closed to commercial flights.
Jarle Teigland, of Bergen, Norway, wandered the streets with his suitcase, looking for a ride to the airport.
``I know it's closed, but when it opens, we want to be on the first flight,'' he said. ``It's better to wait there, than to wait here.''
State officials said at least three people were killed during the storm. One was hit by a falling tree and two others died from injuries they received when a gas tank exploded.
Four bodies were also found floating in flood waters on the island of Cozumel. But officials said it was unclear if the deaths were related to the storm because the remains were badly decomposed, indicating they may have died before Wilma hit.
Last week, Wilma killed 13 people in Jamaica and Haiti.
On the isolated island of Cozumel, a popular spot with divers and cruise ships, the storm knocked out many of the island's docks, making it difficult for the navy to arrive.
``Right now, there is nothing to buy on the island,'' resident Daniela Ayala told The Associated Press by phone. ``People are in the streets looking for food, and they are starting to get desperate.''
State officials were trying to clear airstrips on Cozumel and nearby Isla Mujeres so that planes could land with aid.
People trickled back to the city's elite hotel strip, where white-sand beaches had seemingly evaporated in some areas, exposing the concrete foundations of high-rise buildings to the elements.
Dennis Catesby, of Coventry, England, returned to his original hotel room with about nine others to take bedding and raid the minibar of beer and supplies.
``After three days in a shelter, it was minibar time for us,'' said Catesby, who was married on Monday in Cancun. ``The beer is going to be free today.''
Others were more desperate. Standing alongside the road in front of the damaged building housing his jungle show, animal trainer Pepe Juarez begged for food for his two tigers and two jaguars.
``I've eaten. I'm OK. But the animals are sick,'' he said, holding a sign that read: ``We don't have food. We need help.''
Windows were blown out at the city's main public hospital and about an inch of water stood on the floor of the intensive care unit, although a generator provided electricity.
``Almost nothing works, and there are many patients we can't take care of,'' nurse Dayna Chan said.
The U.S. Embassy was sending consular officials to shelters to help tourists prepare for leave. The U.S. government also offered to donate $200,000 in hurricane aid.
The storm was a devastating blow to Mexico's $11 billion foreign tourism industry. Many hotels could take weeks - if not months - to repair.
Fox said federal officials were racing to reopen the airport and restore power and water service.
``It is clear that we need quickly to reconstruct the economy, and the economy here is called tourism,'' Fox said.
Quintana Roo, the Caribbean coastal state that includes the hurricane-ravaged resorts, accounted for half of the nights spent by foreign tourists in Mexico last year.
Nearly 700,000 people live in the Quintana Roo municipalities hit by Wilma, a region that was populated by just a few thousand before the development of Cancun and the other rapidly growing resort centers.
^---
On the Net:
National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5366049,00.html
