by Nurse Jenna
Needless to say, this is not a work-related topic. I had a lot of plans for my vacation to Grand Cayman, but I can’t say I imagined I would be writing a post. But here I sit, drinking a cup of coffee, watching the ever-increasing waves crash against the shore. The water and the sky are brilliant blue; it is the calm before the storm. Though it is not exactly all quiet-- the hammers are pounding on nails as all the windows are being boarded up and sand bags are being dragged in. We are all preparing for Hurricane Gustav’s arrival.
The hurricane is now predicted to be a class 1 or class 2 when it comes directly in the path of the island, sometime late Friday, or early Saturday. I, like everyone else whose vacation has come to a screeching halt, have tried to get home earlier. Some were successful, I have not been. By tonight, my friend and I will be the only two people left at the resort where we are staying.
Last week at this time I was preparing for my trip, shopping for sunscreen and a new swimsuit. This week I am preparing by getting bottled water and non-perishable foods. Images of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath keep flashing before me, though this should not be anywhere as severe. How should I know? I’ve felt a few earthquakes in San Francisco, had a few tornadoes growing up in the Midwest, but I’m new to this hurricane thing. I will admit I’m a little scared.
I came here to get SCUBA certified and though it was touch and go for awhile during my dives, with a couple of panic situations, I was finally successful. But believe me, I was really scared. I have the deer-in-the-head-lights wide open eyed pictures to prove it. I hesitatingly rented a car here and had to navigate some crazy roads on the LEFT side of the street. I kept making turns into the wrong lane, was getting honked at, and had a few near-misses. That was also very scary.
But this hurricane....this is really scary. All I can do is wait. Watch the sky and wait.
Does anyone have any vacations stories that have not gone as planned to share? Stuck on the runway for hours? Hotel was gone when you got there? Misery loves company....do tell :)
Comments (27)
Best of luck to you. I'm sure you and your friend will make it out alright.
I'm trying to think if I have any vacation horror stories.
Well, there was the time I was 11 and made the stupid mistake of not putting sunscreen on when I went to the waterslide for the day, which was the day before we were leaving for South Dakota. It was the worst sunburn I've ever had, and I had a horrible itching outbreak at our campsite the first night. Luckily, the people next to us had children's Benadryl. God, I never want to go through an itch like that ever again.
Although I may not have any vacation stories to mirror your misery, I can tell you that it's a good chance I'll be in the aftermath of Gustav as it leaves you and heads toward the Gulf and possibly over S.E. Texas. I wish you luck during your storm, hopefully the post-storm rainbow will be amazing enough to deter your feelings of fear and anguish. Do me a favor and blow the beast away from Texas? Thanks :)
All I got is stories about crappy hotel accomodations. I feel kind of silly whining about that right now though. Stay safe.
Really scary. I hope you and your friend have a safe place to wait out the storm. I know this probably isn't so important to you right now, but congrats on becoming SCUBA certified - I've heard it's very difficult!
Ummm it's not really that bad, but we went to North Carolina one year and it got hit with some like, tropical storm-like thing and it flooded the entire neighborhood. Me and my brother went biking in 2 foot deep water the next day. That was fun... =]
Sending good thoughts your way that this ends up being an adventure and nothing more : )
hurricane advice from someone who not only survived a cat 4 (hurricane charley in 2004 alone with frances and gene) but was out in the middle of it: buy water some non perishable food (that is if the hotel is not providing hurricane provisions), flashlight and batteries. stay inside away from windows at all costs. more than likely since you are a tourist and not able to get out they will send you to a shelter. play cards, and relax. the storm is not going to stop because you worry about it so dont. let nature take its course and all in all you will be fine. take whatever precautions you are able to and like i said just chill. lol
stay safe. all my prayers and thoughts are going to anyone and everyone affected by the hurricanes. looks like however i will be hit by one real soon. all gustav has to do is a sharp turn east and florida will be hit and looks like hanna will take care of florida if gustav doesnt or with gustav, only time will tell.
again say safe!
praying for your safety
I will keep you in my thoughts, can't say I really have any horrible vacation stories though. I get pretty lucky as far as traveling goes, or maybe that is just because I worry about worst case scenarios and mentally prepare for them no matter how far fetched...
Nothing as serious as a hurricane. However, back in March I had gone on a cruise for my boyfriends sisters wedding. On the way back we were flying Skybus. There ended up being a huge snow storm at home (Columbus, OH) that dumped 20 inches of snow in 24 hours. Long story short, Skybus took off knowing they probably wouldn't be able to land, we were divereted to Indianapolis and then told we would be taken home by bus. We were scheduled to leave Florida at 10pm, didn't actually leave until midnight, arrived at Indianapolis at 4am, same on the runway until 6am. By then we were so exhausted and fed up we got hotel rooms and drove back the next day.
Luckily everyone had a good sense of humor about it so it was just like we had extended our vacation by a day. The newlyweds were still on vacation so at least it didn't ruin their honeymoon!
Stay safe!
We drove through a tornado once. And our trailer leaked, so all our stuff got wet. We stayed that night in a hotel, instead of a tent.
I don't have any vacation-went-wrong story but I did live through Hurricane Andres in Miami in 92...that was scary. It was a cat 5 and did alot of damage to Miami...I would say the scariest part is where you hear the tornadoes...they sound like trains/whistles blowing. I was horrified when I looked at the damage afterwards - one house on a whole block would be completely wiped away while the rest were perfectly ok. That's where the tornadoe touched down.
In 2005 we had a few storms as well (Katrina, etc..) which were scarier than Andrew cause this time I was the adult taking care of my own little ones! Stay away from windows and be very careful once the storm is over. As long as you have water and canned goods, a puzzle book or something to keep you semi entertained - you will be ok! Good luck.
God Bless and hope you are able to return safely. My inlaws are victims of Hurricane Katrina's fury in New Orleans and had to relocate to Texas for a year while their house was being rebuilt. Now 3 years later when their lives are just returning to normalcy, they have to prepare for Hurricane Gustav. They are on their way to Texas as I type this and will spend the weekend with us!
I was in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit. I know how you feel. I hope you're lucky enough to make it out like I did.
I can imagine this is scary while you are going through it. My Hubby and I were on vacation in Hawaiii when a major storm went through - no electricity(I still have the large candle I bought for our room from this) and much of the land near the ocean flooded, including many of the big hotels. We were on one of the top floors of a large hotel, and watched a lot of what was going on from our window. No elevetators/no electricity for them so a lot of stairs to go up and down on LOL. Actually we had quite an adventure, we had to eat by candlelight, finding places that could even supply any kind of food, people were great and much friendlier having to share this. Just stay safe.
Best of luck to you :) I know just how you feel. I recently moved from Chicago to New Orleans, and Gustav is poised to come here as well (possibly) I dont know what to do either! A blizzard, yes, a hurricaine, NO!
The pet store is sold out of cages and people are putting boards on their windows... nothing like Ive ever seen before.
Prayers and luck to you!
Once I had to accompany my mom to Kentucky with my siblings, aunt, and cousins, for my mom and aunt's dad's funeral.
So we're staying at this place that we'd rented. It was a small townhome type of thing.
I was probably eight or nine at this time.
Someone told me that there was a massive turtle outside, which was enough for me to catapult myself toward the glass door.
A shard fell into my wrist and I almost bled to death.
Um good luck!
I hope you are safe
I have been through two hurricanes. The worst of the wind and rain are over in a few hours, it's just loud. Keep near an inside wall, and on high ground, and you're fine. The hard part for me was when I had to go almost a week without power. It was hot, I got tired of canned tuna fish, and everybody was really, really grumpy.
Sorry your vacation isn't going as you had planned, but atleast you did get SCUBA certified!
I will definitely have you in my thoughts!! Good luck with the hurricane!!!
I was on a cruise in the Caribbean in the middle of a tropical depression. There was a lot of rain, some places were flooded and the boat did a lot of very fun things with the waves. They passed out little airsick (although I guess it would be seasick) bags, they were stashed all over the ship.
But that's about all I have for personal hurricane related stories =)
I'm a freshman at Tulane University in New Orleans. I only had 2 days of classes before having to hop on a plane and fly home yesterday. I dont know hoe many people have made the connection, but friday was the 3rd anniversary of Katrina hitting...
Good luck. I know how you feel the storm is supposed to be heading near me.