European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 17, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday september 17, 1988 the 5tahs and stripes Yucatan Cut o and blacked out 6 reported killed northbound cars run bumper to bumper on interstate 37 out of Corpus Christ teas. Campeche Mexico a boat Sand seaweed littered the streets of this City hundreds of Yards from Shore after Hurricane Gilbert the strongest storm on record battered the Yucatan Peninsula and headed North along the Gulf of Mexico. Six people including two babies died As the storm passed Over the Yucatan. Along the Northern mexican Gulf coast authorities evacuated fishing Vil Lages and towns us Gilbert churned in hat direction with 120 Mph winds. When lie Hurricane slammed into the Caribbean resort of Cancun winds lopped i go Mph. The storm left much of Yucatan with out communication electricity or drink ing water. Airports were shut most Road were blocked and supplies were running Low. Camp Chc s governor declared the slate a disaster area afternoon and appealed for Relief supplies. Thousands of tourists were stranded. In Campeche he state capital on the Peninsula s West coast there is no Light there is no radio there is nothing said Ramon Castillo a nightwatchman at the newspaper no Edades do Campeche. The whole City is flooded. Everything is  he said. I be lived Here All my life and i have never seen bad we Allier like this. People Are  the storm lifted boats from their moorings and clumps of seaweed and de posited them on Campeche streets hundreds of Yards from the seashore. Much of the City was flooded and littered with uprooted Trees. Later thursday the storm moved to Ward northeastern Mexico and the South Eastern coast of Texas. People were evacuated from fishing villages and towns on the Northern coast into shelters in Matamoros a City of400.000 about 12 Miles Inland near the Texas Border City of Brownsville. Farther South the Oil port of Tampico population 700,000, evacuated people from Low lying marshy areas to higher ground. Twenty four foot Waves from the Hurricane pounded the popular resorts of Cancun and Cozumel inflicting heavy damage on hotels. As the 450-mile-Widc storm charged into the Gulf of Mexico it drenched the Yucatan state capital of Merida and the Gulf port cities of puerto Progreso Campeche and Ciudad Del Carmen. Many areas in Yucatan remained Cut off from the outside world so there were no comprehensive reports on injuries and property damage. Authorities were particularly concerned about Isla my Jcrus a tiny resort Island just Oft Cancun. A Navy spokesman in Mexico City said he had no word on the plight of 15,000 people stranded in Isla Muj cres. In Campeche two babies drowned As residents of a poor Low lying neighbor Hood tried to flee said Omar Cantu Edi Tor of the no Edades do Campeche four people died when a Wall col lapsed on them in the town of did a Tun North of Merida Yucatan gov. Vic Tor a Saranillo Shaffer said. Manzanillo said 20,000 people had Token Refuge in shelters in Merida und crop damage was  said the storm changed the coast line with familiar beaches vanishing an new ones appearing. The state of Yucatan has a population of about 1.2 million. The entire Yucatan Peninsula which also includes the states of Quintana Roo and can Pechoc has a population of about 2 million. Old time Hurricane watchers heading for higher ground Saub Gould and her granddaughter Suissa 4, pack of to leave South padre Island Texas. By the associated press you Don t have to Tell Louisiana old timers what to do when a Hurricane begins brewing in the Gulf of  of the size and strength of this storm we did t have to be told to leave said Linda tour Hal who along with her husband runs the to grocery in Holly Beach la., where by midday thursday fewer than 25 of the coastal town s 100 residents were still around. It could take a northerly course. If it s any time to pack up for one. This is the one this is the first time we be packed up in  said mrs. Touchet whose living quarters arc at the rear of the  Back Yard is Beach and the Gulf of Mexico where Hurricane Gilbert packing winds of 120 Mph was moving slowly toward the North Northwest. Isolated squalls from Gilbert s Northern Edge knocked out Power in parts of grand Isle a resort Community on the Louisiana coast. Mayor Andy a in acc warned 2,000 residents who evacuated wednes Day not to return Loo soon. We re asking All of those people to slay put where they Are because grand Isle won t be a very Nice place to be today said Valence. Tides were expected to reach 5 feet above Normal All along the coast and Valence said Louisiana i the Only route from grand Isle to the Mainland was certain to  20,000 people had been ordered to evacuate the state s coast by thursday but Many had t wailed for marching orders. And in Cameron Hayes Pielou Felt no More pressure in making an evacuation decision for the Hurricane savvy Parish. You just take the data available and like any other Job you make a decision the 39-year-old Parish civil defense director said As he ordered what he called a precautionary evacuation of the remainder of the population of 10,000."sixly-five percent have already gone/1 he said trial s enough data right there. Should you second guess 65 percent of the people by late thursday about 75 percent of the Popula Tion had left. Most of the others said icy would slay put unless the storm takes a turn to the  said in was As total an evacuation As he d seen in this coastal Parish since Hurricane Audrey swept tidal wave through the Marsh in 1957. The storm killed 390 people from Texas to Alabama. Hurricane Gilbert became a classroom exercise for the eighth Grade at grand caillou Middle school this  re teaching in while it s Here said teacher David Duplentis who look advantage of the weather to teach How air currents develop into hurricanes everybody s saying it s the worst one yet said Melissa Guidry 13, who lives in a trailer along Bayou grand caillou in Dulac. If it s worse than Juan then i guess i m scared there was one Parent who just left Here she said they were taking their children to Tennessee said principal Danny Smith who used a Hurricane tracking map to plot Gilbert s  plan ahead for these things including one Man who told school Secretary Joyce Trahan he was putting his Pirogue a Flat Bottom Canoe on top of his  said i m Gonna drive North and when i gel to someplace where somebody asks me what that is on top of my car i la know i be gone far enough " the Secretary said