Bahia Asuncion Hurricane Report

In case you didnt see this in the hurricane thread, I will repeat it in a new one.

It is amazing the seawall was demolished in many places but town letters survived with only the O falling out...OHHHH



It’s been a week since we started preparing for the arrival of Hurricane Hilary here on the central Pacific coast in the Municipality of Mulege. It was the biggest hurricane ever to hit our area and left a terrible disaster after high winds toppled trees, garages, roofs etc and the over 25' waves came up into the main street of town at high tide. The best thing is that we got very little rain so streets aren't flooded and traffic is flowing fine now.





It's official, Bahia Asuncion was declared a disaster zone after Hilary. I was astounded how fast CFE got power back on the very next day and internet too! The military brought in a huge crew by helicopter to clean up the streets and provide aid to the folks left without houses. The government responded very quickly and the Governor and Municipal president flew in as well to assess the situation and reassure the village that help was imminent.

It seems like it was just yesterday as this week has been a whirlwind of emotion and massive clean up and recovery from the worst hurricane ever to hit our area. I am still physically very sore & traumatized grappling with the enormous task of repairing all the damage. Little by little with lots of help we are picking up the mess….I found things that blew out of my garage 2 miles away!



Here at La Bufadora Inn, the hotel part which is newer is fine with hardly any damage except to my beautiful gardens. Thanks to my friends and great crew we are all cleaned up & open for business and sure hope people come our way!

My house is in rough shape with some roof that flew off so it flooded badly. The walls were covered with sand and seaweed from the huge swells that lashed the cliffside. Two garages blew down completely & some gates torn off. In the morning when I took a look at the devastation, I was sure I parked my truck in the garage but there it was out in the open! I didn’t realize the whole garage was down.

Many people suffered terrible damage to their homes and properties especially those who built close to the beach.

Campo Sirena was damaged too but will be finished fixing up today! The Beach House was fine! Just a lot of debris.

I have been trying to coordinate help for my daughter who suffered terrible damage at our new Hacienda Baja Magic. She is just starting out with her new business and really needs our help. Here is what she wrote about the storm.

SIRENA BONDY’S ACCOUNT OF HURRICAINE HILLARY at her Hacienda Baja Magic…3 DAYS AFTER.

Reading through all the posts, comments and scrolling through photos that our friends took up and down Baja, I feel a knot form in my throat and tears in my eyes. As I look around our home, that doubles as our business and a home away from home for Baja Travelers, I realize the magnitude of damage that we sustained here at our Hacienda Baja Magic in Guerrero Negro as well.

The night of Saturday, August 19th, and early morning of Sunday, August 20th, 2023, our beloved towns of the municipality of Mulege in Baja California Sur, were hit by the largest hurricane I have seen in my 33 years on this planet.
As usual, a couple of days before, we heard on social media and weather platforms that a storm was coming. We began with our usual preparations, taking down tents, boarding up windows, reinforcing fences, tying down roofs, purchasing essentials like gas, canned food, drinking water, etc. I don’t think anyone was prepared for the amount of destruction that Hilary would leave in her wake.

As we were getting ready to go to bed Saturday night, I truly believed that it was “just another rain storm” and due to the fact we, in central parts like Guerrero Negro, rarely get hit too hard, I was confident that I would wake up to very little damage…I was wrong.
At about midnight power began to flicker and we could hear the wind raging outside of our bedroom window. Doors were rattling and trees were heard straining against the relentless winds. As my youngest son climbed into bed with me from a mattress I had put beside us on the floor for him. My first pinch of fear was “what if the window bursts and he is up here with us?” which sent my mind in to overdrive in a domino effect of plans and concerns for us, as well as all of our loved ones up and down the peninsula.

Then came the thought of my Mom, hours away, facing this raging storm by herself. I mentally reviewed all of her security measures and the strategies we had always had in place when I was growing up in case of a storm…while I felt confident that she could handle pretty much anything I was still worried to the point of being sick to my stomach.

All the while the door rattling became louder and more prominent…until finally I heard something crack. My first instinct was to jump up and go check what it was, but my partner Charly of course being the voice of reason, held me back and said we were in the safest place in our home and we could check on everything in the morning because it was not worth getting hurt over…I am so glad he did.

After a sleepless night of hearing glass breaking, wood cracking, and many loud bangs over the span of a few hours, daylight came through the blinds, and even though the storm raged on, the wind was considerably less than it had been hours before.
Not being able to wait any longer I clutched a flashlight and crept out to our living room, where through glass doors I saw the utter destruction in our clubhouse. The roof above our small indoor pool was torn clean off and was folded backward, laying on top of our kitchen roof, large beams still suspended almost in mid-air and clashing up and down with the wind still. Our front and back doors were broken open by the force of the winds. The cement wall top part was torn off and embedded in the part of the roof that had been raised about 15 cm. As I looked outside, I saw that a whole portion of our wooden fence had been completely blown down and was laying in the middle of the road covered by a large puddle with mud and debris from other homes in the area. Our beautiful garden which we spent months tending to and bringing back to glory was flattened, our trees bare, and not even birds could be heard.

I don’t think it fully registered until a couple of hours later when we tried to patch up everything as best we could, all I was focused on was survival mode in case the winds picked up again, not rationally realizing the storm was over.



I am well aware there were people that lost so much more, sadly this Hurricane took at least 4 lives, and we are fortunate to be healthy and have our loved ones safe and sound. However, the daunting task of rebuilding both the Baja Magic Hacienda and my Mom’s Bufadora Inn will be costly and ongoing… but as with everything we do it will be done with love and care.

We are so blessed to have friends and family that continue to support and help us, which truly does mean the world to us. We are overwhelmed by everyone’s response to this tragedy and appreciate the help you are all willing to give. So many of you have offered to bring construction materials down and while appreciated, we would really love to support our local businesses in buying materials for rebuilding, that way we can also help them get back on their feet. My Mom set up a link we can send you if you want to help with our recovery.

Everything raised here will go directly to the repairs needed so we can be up and running to receive guests as soon as possible. We will also be setting up a local drop spot here at the Hacienda for any clothes, blankets, materials people drop off when coming through which we in turn will deliver to other families in need locally.

We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for always stepping up and helping in our times of need, those who know us know we do not hesitate to do the same when our friends need us. If you care to help please go to my personal facebook page or to Baja Magicmx on Facebook to find the link to directly send donations to us.

https://donate.stripe.com/9AQ6oDdQM6Ow1YQaEE

[Edited on 8-26-2023 by shari]

I am glad that Sirena and her crew and friends were properly prepared!

Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo

I should be headed that way in a month or so, I will plan on doing business with both your locations. If there is something you can't get down there, let me know. Good dill pickles are already on the list!

Quote: Originally posted by surfhat

Organic coconut oil for her morning coffee is always something Shari will receive when I visit, along with whatever else I come upon between my yearly Baja Magic tours. It appears I need to expand my simple offerings next winter. Please know, Shari and Sirena, I am available to bring down whatever you need next Feb or so. My grey whale Baja limo will have the room for whatever you may need at the time. I will be asking for reservations in the near future for your whale camp for my friends and I that have been wanting to go down for years because of my passion for what you offer. A year without your Whale Magic would be a year without magic. haha