Muteswan
Roger Freestone
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2020
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Hurricane Dean
Today 21/8/07 Hurricane Dean hit the coast of Mexico.
Probably the most worrying day of my life.
My family and I were 10 days into our holiday in Mexico (our 30th wedding anniversary treat), when the holiday rep came around to our rooms and informed us of a meeting for all holidaymakers. This was about 4 days before the hurricane actually hit land. We had seen the forecasts earlier in the day and were expecting some sort of news from the holiday company but not quite the news we later heard.
We were told that everyone was going to be sent home at the earliest opportunity. It was disappointing but expected. Other families told us the next day that their flights had been arranged and were leaving that day!
Nothing about our flight back to Cardiff.
Obviously I was in contact with the rep and he had no news yet but told me to get packed up, ready to go. Later that day the rep called and said we were to leave that evening. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get our flight as the airport was so busy. They were scheduling on a first-in, first-out basis. Our flight was the next one on the list but they couldn’t cope with the amount of flights out, so we had to stay!
We witnessed the hotel being closed up and battened down ready for impact. On the day before Dean was due to make landfall we were informed that our hotel was right in its path and we were being moved by coach to another hotel about 50 miles north “to safety”.
After settling in to the new hotel we were told that the path was changing, but not by much. Further south luckily. We were given dinner in their restaurant which had tall glass walls which were constantly flexing and bending with the blasts of wind.
Sleep proved almost impossible; most of the night was spent watching weather reports and seeing the palm trees in the hotel grounds bending to extreme angles.
Needless to say, all turned out well in the end for us, but on the television reports the next day, the extent of the damage was frighteningly obvious. There weren’t many deaths in the area around where we previously were staying thank goodness, as the path veered even further south over a mostly unpopulated area.
Hurricane Dean was a category 5 at landfall, the fourth strongest landfalling Atlantic hurricane ever, with wind speeds of up to 175mph. I’m not ashamed to say that I was extremely concerned for the safety of my wife and two sons and very relieved when we were on a flight home.
In spite of all the above though, we look back at that holiday as one of the best holidays we ever had! The resort was stunning, in a mangrove area with it’s own coral reef. There are so many interesting historical places to visit and wildlife to see, and we did such a lot in those first 10 days.
No doubt there is at least one more entry on this board in the hotel grounds!
Today 21/8/07 Hurricane Dean hit the coast of Mexico.
Probably the most worrying day of my life.
My family and I were 10 days into our holiday in Mexico (our 30th wedding anniversary treat), when the holiday rep came around to our rooms and informed us of a meeting for all holidaymakers. This was about 4 days before the hurricane actually hit land. We had seen the forecasts earlier in the day and were expecting some sort of news from the holiday company but not quite the news we later heard.
We were told that everyone was going to be sent home at the earliest opportunity. It was disappointing but expected. Other families told us the next day that their flights had been arranged and were leaving that day!
Nothing about our flight back to Cardiff.
Obviously I was in contact with the rep and he had no news yet but told me to get packed up, ready to go. Later that day the rep called and said we were to leave that evening. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get our flight as the airport was so busy. They were scheduling on a first-in, first-out basis. Our flight was the next one on the list but they couldn’t cope with the amount of flights out, so we had to stay!
We witnessed the hotel being closed up and battened down ready for impact. On the day before Dean was due to make landfall we were informed that our hotel was right in its path and we were being moved by coach to another hotel about 50 miles north “to safety”.
After settling in to the new hotel we were told that the path was changing, but not by much. Further south luckily. We were given dinner in their restaurant which had tall glass walls which were constantly flexing and bending with the blasts of wind.
Sleep proved almost impossible; most of the night was spent watching weather reports and seeing the palm trees in the hotel grounds bending to extreme angles.
Needless to say, all turned out well in the end for us, but on the television reports the next day, the extent of the damage was frighteningly obvious. There weren’t many deaths in the area around where we previously were staying thank goodness, as the path veered even further south over a mostly unpopulated area.
Hurricane Dean was a category 5 at landfall, the fourth strongest landfalling Atlantic hurricane ever, with wind speeds of up to 175mph. I’m not ashamed to say that I was extremely concerned for the safety of my wife and two sons and very relieved when we were on a flight home.
In spite of all the above though, we look back at that holiday as one of the best holidays we ever had! The resort was stunning, in a mangrove area with it’s own coral reef. There are so many interesting historical places to visit and wildlife to see, and we did such a lot in those first 10 days.
No doubt there is at least one more entry on this board in the hotel grounds!
