Hurricane Odile Damaged Mexico’s Fishing and Farming Industry, but Some Media Cared More About Tourist Resorts · Global Voices
J. Tadeo

Odile ravages San José del Cabo. Screen capture of video published on YouTube.
The meteorological phenomenon known as Odile hit Mexico's Pacific coast and the Sea of Cortez with hurricane-force winds on September 15 and 16, 2014. Not surprisingly, major media outlets focused on the damage and inconveniences suffered by tourist areas such as Los Cabos and Cabo San Lucas, located in the state of Baja California Sur.
But Odile did not confine her fury to these two internationally renowned tourist destinations; she also slammed many other localities that will now need their share of help recovering in the aftermath of the storm.
Damage was severe in states such as Sinaloa and Sonora, which, although less visited by travellers to Mexico, are actually key players in the country's economic sector. Unfortunately, their stories went largely unreported outside local media. The newspaper El Debate described the effects of Odile on agriculture, the region's main economic activity —specifically in the town of Guasave, where “moisture generated by Hurricane Odile's abundant rain caused damage to recently planted vegetable crops.”
Moreover, the same paper reported on the state of fishing, another important contributor to the Mexican economy: “What should have been a time of work, activity, and glory days [ … ] today is a sad picture of uncertainty and despair, since until yesterday the bad weather prevented us from working.” The word “devastation” was used to describe the effects of Odile on the seaside resort of Las Glorias, where damage was considerable.
Olivia Ruiz of the newspaper El Regional, which serves the community of Guasave, commented:
Las marejadas que han destruido las casas que estaban muy cerca del mar, los restaurantes que se instalaron en la playa y el espacio construido por el Ayuntamiento con andadores, barda y palapas, ahora están desaparecidos, destruidos casi en su totalidad.
The heavy seas that destroyed the houses nearest the ocean, the restaurants set up on the beach, and the public spaces built by the city with walkways, walls and thatched-roof gazebos are gone, almost entirely destroyed.
On Twitter, the mayor of Guasave, Armando Leyson, turned a blind eye to the havoc caused by Odile, preferring to observe Mexico's national holiday by sharing pictures of the September 16 Independence Day celebrations:
Así celebra Guasave su independencia. #VivaMéxico pic.twitter.com/iYlDLmeR3a
— Armando Kory Leyson (@koryleyson) September 17, 2014
This is how Guasave celebrates its independence.
Despite the merriment, @GuasaveSoy broadcast the following evidence of the storm's after-effects:
《VIDEO》Todo arrasa el mar a su paso, destruye postes y transformadores en #LasGlorias. #HuracánOdile #UnDíaDespués http://t.co/FCz4KoZXEq
— Guasave, Sinaloa (@GuasaveSoy) September 17, 2014
The sea rips up everything in its path, destroys posts and transformers.
User Damian Montoya commented that in the wake of Odile, he could now return to work:
Y mañana si a trabajar #sinaloa ya se fue #Odile
— Damian Montoya (@Damian_Montoya) September 17, 2014
And tomorrow back to work #sinaloa now that #Odile is gone.
This video shows the damage wrought by Odile as she crossed San Jose del Cabo: