Everything was prepared to spend a magnificent week in Mexico until the last day the trip was cut short. A group of 16 young people from Lanzarote experienced one of their worst nights last Sunday when, during their stay in the South American country, Hurricane Emily arrived in the area where they were. "It's night, we were locked up, we couldn't see anything and you hear everything." With these words, Sergio Navarro, one of the members of the group, described the experience he and his friends faced.
On Thursday the 14th, the first news began to arrive that the hurricane, after having passed through other areas, had reformed and was heading towards the country. Faced with the situation, other tourists decided to bring forward their return trip. However, the group from Lanzarote stayed "because at first they said that it was not going to have so much strength and it was not going to pass exactly where we were", explained Sergio Navarro.
However, everything changed when the information said that it was a hurricane of great force and it would also pass right where the group was. What's more, if nothing had happened, their plane should have returned that Sunday the 17th at eight in the afternoon and it didn't because the forecast was that Emily would pass between seven and eight "so the airport was closed", the young man pointed out.
Faced with the situation, the hotel management told its guests to stay locked in their rooms until they were notified. At the same time, they provided them with information on how things were going "and they were collecting everything like the hammocks that they put in the pool so they wouldn't fly away", said Sergio Navarro. So at about four in the afternoon the young people were already in two rooms. And everyone spent the night as they could. There were even those who locked themselves in the bathroom because it was where the noise of the wind was least heard or in a closet. In this sense, Sergio Navarro said: "You live with tension and fear because it is a situation that you have never experienced and you don't know what is going to happen." Thus, they had to spend more than ten hours because the hotel recommended that they not leave until the staff notified them. This is because, according to the young man, there is a moment when it loosens, which is when the eye of the hurricane is "and then it is when the strongest comes although it seems that it is over".
Finally, at about six in the morning they left the rooms in which they had spent the longest hours of their lives. Outside the landscape was desolate. "Everything was destroyed, palm trees thrown down, trees, light poles on the ground, roofs that are made of straw that had collapsed, the glass of the broken reception or the furniture in the garden." So they took photos and videos while the staff began to collect and clean everything they could.
The adventure continues
Again the hotel staff asked them to return to their rooms because a few hours later they would be served breakfast. Already at night they went to the airport thinking that this was the end of the odyssey. But it wasn't that easy. When they arrived at the aerodrome, the plane that was transferring them to Madrid had already left. So they had to wait for another flight from a different company where they were placed because they had spare seats. Finally, everyone is on the Island recovering from an experience they hope not to repeat.
