North Texans found themselves stuck in Cancun as Hurricane Delta lashed the popular tourist destination.
Karelyn Hughes of Garland arrived at her beachfront resort in Cancun Monday night, unaware Hurricane Delta had shifted westward and now posed a more serious threat to the Yucatán Peninsula.
Hughes said she immediately got on the phone with her travel agent to get a flight home, but they were all booked.
“There was no way out so we said ‘we’ll just ride it out.'"
On Tuesday, her resort bussed guests about an hour away to an empty resort in Playa del Carmen. Hotel staff said it was decided it would be a safer place to ride out the storm. The resort had been closed because of poor tourism due to COVID-19, but reopened to serve as a temporary shelter.
Craig Wheeler of Dallas also found himself stuck at an AirBnB in Cozumel.
On Tuesday he shared videos and photos as his host boarded up windows.
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"We're just going to ride it out behind that plywood," Wheeler said.
State officials in Mexico said more than 40,000 tourists were in the region. Hundreds were sent to emergency shelters or remained at their hotels crowded on cots in the center of the building.
Hughes said she went to bed early and then woke up around 4 a.m. as the Category 2 hurricane barreled toward the Yucatan Peninsula.
“You could hear the wind blowing,” said Hughes. “It sounded like monkeys fighting. It was so unreal. It was something I’d never heard before. Then the rain, just torrential rain. It was just pouring down.”
When she ventured outside Wednesday morning she could see tree limbs down around the property, but was relieved the worst was over.
No serious injuries or deaths were reported. Crews spent Wednesday cleaning up downed trees and power lines. The storm knocked out power to nearly a third of the region.
