Hurricane Delta: From vacation to evacuation, Northern California family rides out storm on pool lounge chairs in Cancun, Mexico

ByBrandon Behle KGO logo
Friday, October 9, 2020
CA family rides out Hurricane Delta on pool lounge chairs in Mexico
From vacation to evacuation: One Northern California family's wild encounter with Hurricane Delta

CANCUN, Mexico (KGO) -- As Hurricane Delta roars towards the Gulf Coast, a Northern California family is now sharing their close call with the storm while on vacation in Cozumel, Mexico.

"I'm from Northern California, I had never been in a hurricane and I didn't realize the extent of what a potential category 4 hurricane would be," explained Tiffani Morgan, a nurse from Lincoln, Calif. near Sacramento.

Morgan and her family were on vacation on the island of Cozumel when they were informed Monday evening that they were being evacuated to the mainland Cancun.

"We were told to pack our bags and that there would be a bus waiting for us the next morning," recalled Morgan "We were kind of bummed."

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Hotel officials initially told the family that they would be put up in another sister resort, but when they arrived they were informed that they would be riding out the storm inside a large event center with hundreds of other stranded tourists.

Because the resort was out of beds, they pulled in pool lounge chairs to serve as beds.

"People are sleeping in hallways and on cots. People that don't have cots are sleeping on the ground," said Morgan.

But Morgan said she and her family were so impressed by the staff's efforts to take care of the evacuees.

"They have done their best to have entertainment," explained Morgan. "People are trying to make the best of it."

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The storm hit Cancun Tuesday night and Morgan said the resort property only appeared to suffer minor damage, but it's worse outside the resort.

"I hear that the roads are flooded in other areas and other hotels don't have power. We're running on a generator, so we are blessed as far as that goes," said Morgan.

The resort said they will put them into a hotel on Thursday and they can stay there for three more days if they want, but the Morgan family is trying to get out of there as soon as possible.

However, their flights have been canceled twice, but they are trying to keep a positive attitude.

"As 2020 has told us things don't go according to plan, all we can control is our attitude so we'll just make the best of it," said Morgan