UPDATE Saturday 7, Nov98 08:34 CST

Good morning everyone! Today we have good news and bad news
once again. The bad news is that we received more rain here
in Izabal. The rain began around 10 PM last night and it
rained hard throughout the night. Despite this, the river is
slowly dropping and is now about 2 inches down from its
highest level. We have been experiencing spring tides out in
the Bahia Amatique which limits the rate at which water can
flow out of the Rio Dulce. Despite this, the current under
the bridge at Fronteras is impressively strong - perhaps 6
or 7 knots in the center. Passing under the bridge in a
cayuco or an underpowered boat is quite an adventure and
dangerous because of the many powerful whirlpools spinning
like tornados on the downriver side of the bridge.

The good news is that the highway to Guatemala City is
definitely open. There is one spot where traffic is one-way
and is escorted, introducing a one hour delay. Don Willi
arrived here last night at 6:30 PM, having left the city at
1:00 PM. He reports that the highway is carrying an endless
stream of trucks.

Here in Fronteras, quite a few homes are flooded and the
inhabitants have moved in with family or friends. Some of
the horror stories of what happened in the area around
Morales are starting to come to me -- cases where families
were trapped on the roofs of their homes for 3 days, waiting
for rescue and so forth. One story told of the waters rising
so quickly that the door jammed from the force of the water,
trapping people inside the house. Fortunately they escaped
through the roof after the water rose sufficiently.

There are food shortages in many of the outlying aldeas near
Fronteras. Sacks of corn, beans and rice are being shipped
to them by local volunteers. Carlos at Atitlan Shuttle is
coordinating the food distribution locally. Russell and
other pilots have been donating their skills and equipment
flying emergency supplies to Izabal for several days. So
far, 4 pilots and 18 other personnel have been killed making
these emergency flights.

Despite the this, here around the Rio Dulce we got off easy -
saved by luck. The satellite photo sequence from several
days ago clearly shows the heavy weather cell that went up
the Motagua valley, causing the disaster around Morales. If
that cell had passed 50 miles further north, the Rio Dulce
would surely have flooded much higher. It is a good lesson
for those of us that live here.

Utilities have also been working well. Except for the day
immediately following the worst of the storm, the
electricity has been solid here and the telephones have been
good as well with only a few minor interruptions.

Felipe
Capt. Nemo's Communications
Rio Dulce, Izabal, Guatemala

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