Our Hurricane Experience

It was as if it was staged, so serial and like a dream.  The ocean and air were so still. I began a headache that I only get prior to earthquakes and hurricanes. I could feel the pressure building.  I knew the hurricane was getting closer.

 

How was it possible that the storm was coming our way?  I saw the fear in my students eyes. They looked to me for guidance and trusted even though I knew they wanted to run.  However there was no place to go.  People wanted to evacuate, but where to go?  To Guadalajara 5 hours away, or possibly Puerta Vallarta to maybe get a flight out.  But which way was the hurricane going, no one really knew.  You took your chances in any direction out of the resort. Some people fled to Guadalajara and drove on a windy two lane highway in bumper to bumper traffic in the pouring rain. It took them 10 hours to get there only to find out the hurricane rains were following them.

 

Authorities evacuated people in Puerta Vallarta to shelters, and some made it out on flights.  Most people didn’t get out due to the rain and the airport closing.  They did not evacuate us from Nuevo Vallarta to a shelter inland. There were no rental cars available and they closed the gas stations.  The military and National Guard were asking that we stay inside to keep safe.

 

Thank goodness our resort staff at Villa Del Palmar Flamingos were experts in hurricane procedures.  We were well cared for with food, water, supplies and the information needed to prepare and be safe during the hurricane. They were calm and supportive to our needs and the questions people at the resort constantly bombarded them with.  And I was gratelful that the hotel structure was designed to sustain a hurricane should it hit.

 

The hotel evacuated guests from the lower two levels and upper floors, and relocated us a room further away from the ocean front.  It was voted that we would all camp out in my room since it was the safest location.

 

We fearlessly prepared our room for a Category 5 Hurricane. With limited time, we got to work. We placed the mattress against the sliding door, the couch against the mattress, and then tightly fastened cushions and sheets over the sliding door.  The bathroom was prepared with cushions protecting the small window with tape securing the cushions.  Sheets covering the bathroom mirror.  Water and food rations in the bathroom with a few personal belongings.

 

We had a trial drill and sat in the bathtub together.  Surrendering to the fact we may have to remain there the entire night, we then tried sitting on the bathroom floor together.  It was a tight fit in the bathtub or the bathroom floor.  No one was complaining.

 

Pleased with our plan we left the bathroom. Holding prayer and intention that the hurricane would change direction, we retreated to our room to wait. We each had a backpack in the room with our important personal belongings. Each one of my students had something special with them such as a journal, book, picture, crystal, or clothing item. The TV still worked and gave us a satellite report.  I called down to the hotel phone every hour for a progress report.

 

A who lives in Puerta Vallarta called frequently to assure me that we were safe.  He had a relative in the National Guard that he contacted.  He said that if the hurricane hit that his relative would come get us in the morning to give us the help we needed and to escort us out of the resort.

 

In the middle of a hurricane approaching we felt loved and supported.  Our prayers continued and we waited.  We were strong, never doubted and held intention for the hurricane to lose intensity, and turn south with the least amount of destruction. My daughter and son called frequently to check on me.  My students spoke with their family members who were terribly worried.

 

We had plenty of food in our room so we decided to have a snack and some water.  The young women in the group laid down in one bed, and the rest of us in another bed.  It was a tight fit but no one cared. We were relaxing as we waited.

 

Then a call came from my friend in Puerta Vallarta saying our prayers were answered and the hurricane turned south!  We couldn’t believe it, what a relief!  But where did it go?  It hit the small villages.  Our prayers were answered since no one was killed.  Even though villages were destroyed, the hurricane lost intensity when it hit.  By God’s grace the hurricane had the least amount of destruction possible.

 

We called our family members then sat on the bed laughing for a good 20 minutes as we reflected on our experience.  Our room was well prepared for a hurricane, and we would have probably made it just fine if it hit, although quite happy we didn’t have the experience!

 

We decided to leave the room and retreat to our original rooms on the upper levels.  As I walked back to my Penthouse on the 8th floor I was grateful that I was returning to a room that was untouched by the storm. When I left earlier in the day I wasn’t sure what I would be returning to or if I would return to the room at all.  My group was with me as I entered my Penthouse.  We all walked out on my balcony which overlooked the ocean and listened to the beautiful waves that were somewhat turbulent.  As we looked up in the sky we could feel the storm had cleared.  The pressure was gone and I no longer had a headache.

 

It rained heavily all night.  I wondered if it would ever stop, but sure enough it let up in the morning. The hurricane came and went so quickly.  By 12:00noon the clouds parted and the sun was shining. It was as if the hurricane never happened. What a contrast to the day and night before. Was it a dream, or did it really occur?

 

The people in the villages were given help immediately following the hurricane from the military, National Guard, Red Cross and other surrounding communities.  At the hotel we donated food baskets to help the people in the villages.
Thank you dear students for joining me on this journey through the hurricane and into your empowerment.  With gratitude to my angels, guides and teachers who are always with me, and continue to protect and guide me in the light.  I am so blessed.

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