CANCUN, Mexico. (WKRN) — A Clarksville couple on vacation in Cancun was supposed to fly back Wednesday morning, but instead, they were forced to leave their belongings at the resort and evacuate inland to hunker down from Hurricane Delta.
Amber and Daniel Cotterell flew out of Nashville on September 30 to enjoy a nice quiet vacation on the Gulf.
“We were there for a couple of days before the tropical storm came on Friday night, we woke up Saturday, the room was flooded,” Daniel Cotterell told News 2 in a video Tuesday night, “We had heard that there was possibly a hurricane coming in this weekend.”
But Delta had its own plans, coming in fast and strong, upgrading from a tropical storm to a category 4 hurricane in just over a day, barreling towards the resort the couple was staying at, Hotel Riu Cancun right on the water.
“We didn’t hear anything at all from the hotel,” said Daniel.
“Nothing about evacuation, nothing about a hurricane coming in, nothing about being safe. The only reason we knew about it was because two ladies at the beach were literally just having a casual conversation about a hurricane might be coming in,” added Amber.
They went back to the room and tried to get on a flight back, but, “anything here to the US was over $2000 dollars a person,” explained Daniel.
Then, employees came in and told the couple they had to put their mattress up against the balcony and that they needed to decide if they were staying.
“It was around 2:15 and I went downstairs just to see what our options were,” said Amber,
“And I spoke to the receptionist and she says pretty much the only option that we have is to leave be evacuated.”
They had to be downstairs and on the bus in the next 45 minutes. They were only allowed to take one bag with essentials.
Videos showed what looked like more than 200 people waiting in the lobby to evacuate the resort, all taken to another hotel a few miles inland that had been closed due to COVID-19.
“They gave us a grocery bag with two meals each in it and they left some water outside the room and some liquor in the room, and we have the TV with one channel that’s in English,” said Daniel when they had were hunkering down in the new hotel room.
Hurricane Delta hit in the early morning hours as a Category 2, thankfully, the Cotterell’s survived just fine.
“It hit around 3 a.m.,” Amber described to News 2 in a video Wednesday, “It was super loud, super windy, obviously the rain was pouring down, you could hear stuff just getting knocked around outside of our door, also out of our window.”
Aside from some trees, that hotel faired okay, but the Riu, not so much.
“The whole lobby is made of glass, they said that’s completely shattered,” said Daniel, “We do have most of our belongings there still, they’re packed up and in suitcases in the bathroom.”
Their flight was rescheduled for Thursday morning, but the couple had to decide to stay until they would be allowed back into the Riu to get their belongings or leave it.
While they waited for permission to leave the hotel, they waited almost two hours in line for breakfast.
“Just to get some food…. but you know what? It’s hot, it’s food. We still have electricity and water,” said Daniel.
Good news came at about 4 p.m. Wednesday afternoon when they found out they would be allowed back into the Riu to get their stuff.
They then had to figure out a taxi to get back to the resort Wednesday evening so they could make their flight in the morning.
“We’re definitely thankful to be here, for everything that we have right now, but we’re just, we’re ready to come home,” said Amber.
“We are grateful for everyone’s prayers,” added Daniel.
The couple is supposed to fly back Thursday at 10:30 a.m.
