Post by L Roebuck on Nov 1, 2005 18:56:36 GMT -5
Cave diving trip turns into hurricane survival ordeal for group from Cape Coral
By Tom Hayden
news-press.com November 01, 2005
The trip to Cancun, Mexico, was to explore the wonders of underwater caves in the Caribbean.
The trip turned into a fight for survival as six people from the Scuba Dragons Dive Team in Cape Coral were face to face with Hurricane Wilma.
How horrifying was this adventure? Consider this:
• With Wilma closing in, the six were escorted from their hotel at gunpoint and sent to a supposedly more secure location.
• The roof was blown off, walls crumbled and water poured into one of the shelters where they endured most of the 36 hours of Wilma.
• Along the way they made several critical decisions that probably saved their lives.
After four days of diving, the group — Bob Palmer and his son Michael, Don Winter, Krista Patterson, Vincent Abbatellio, all of Cape Coral; and Larry Fryers of Lehigh Acres — learned Wilma and its 130 to 170 mph winds were approaching.
They tried to leave on Thursday, Oct. 20, but the airport closed.
"They escorted us out of the hotel at gunpoint at night," said Bob Palmer. "They wanted us to evacuate, but we thought we were safe in the Category 5 hotel."
The hotel guests boarded a bus and were sent to a nearby Wal-Mart.
"They wouldn't let us in," Palmer said.
Next stop was a Rotary Club, but the building couldn't withstand a fan on high, let alone Wilma.
Next up was a school with glass on top of block walls to keep out unwelcome guests. There were no storm shutters, and people were wading through ankle-deep water to get in.
"We refused to get off the bus," said Palmer. He heard later that people in that shelter did not receive food or water for about 30 hours.
The bus driver took the group back to the bus depot as winds were kicking up about 50 to 60 mph.
Then, police showed up and took the group to another shelter. It was about 3 a.m. on a Friday.
"The storm is just raging," Palmer said. "The shelter starts to crumble around us. The shutters blew in. The windows blew in. The window frames blew in.
"We all huddled in 6 to 12 inches of water with a blanket over our heads to protect us
from the falling debris."
"Hypothermia was setting in, and we were were shaking like a leaf. We huddled together to try and get warm," Winter said.
The nightmare was reaching a crescendo.
"It was when we were in the shelter, windows blown in and roof falling and knew they couldn't evacuate us. That was the worst time of the whole thing," Palmer said.
"I don't know if I thought I was going to die, but I was very concerned about our safety."
Most would consider Winter a trained tough guy. He was in the military, Navy and Army, for 14 years. He also was a state trooper. He's led dive trips to Cancun for 20 years. Wilma buckled him.
"It just never stopped. I said, 'please God, let the roof come down and kill us.' I didn't want to live anymore."
Finally, Wilma's eye passed over Cancun.
"We thought this can't be the eye. This has to be the end," Palmer said.
The people were moved to another shelter. Wilma's fury re-fired.
"The second shelter pretty much held," Palmer said.
After 36 hours, Wilma moved on. Winter will never forget the bravery of the Mexican people, especially when the walls crumbled in the first shelter, exposing the group to the storm.
"The Mexican people kept us alive," Winter said. "They would lock arms in rain jackets and protect as many people as they could behind them. They put themselves in the biggest part of the danger."
Once it was safe to leave, officials at the shelter told people they were going to send them to the inland town of Merida.
"They told us we could get our stuff later," Palmer said.
That stuff was thousands of dollars worth of diving equipment.
"No way we were going to leave this kind of equipment," he said.
As others left for Merida, Palmer's group persuaded a young cab driver to take them back to their hotel.
"We had to push her over the curb, through a couple of feet of water, under downed power lines and through broken trees," Palmer said.
Palmer said they later heard the bus to Merida never made it. It was blocked by flooded roads holding four to five feet of water. "We don't know what happened to those people."
At the hotel, the group saw their rooms had broken windows but were livable. There wasn't much to eat, scrambled eggs and french fries, and little to drink — a litre of water a day for six people — and no power or plumbing. They lived that way for about three days.
On Thursday, Oct. 27, they learned flights might be leaving for the United States. With about 3,000 other people, they showed up outside the airport.
By Thursday afternoon, they were on a flight home.
Palmer and the rest of the group had little contact with family in Cape Coral during the ordeal.
Palmer, however, did find a way to let his wife know he and his son were OK.
"Once the hurricane hit, CNN or one of the national networks was interviewing somebody. I made a concerted effort to get my face behind the camera. Somebody called her (his wife) and said they saw Bob," he said.
— Tom Hayden is Cape Coral editor of The News-Press.
www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051101/NEWS0101/511010368/1075
By Tom Hayden
news-press.com November 01, 2005
The trip to Cancun, Mexico, was to explore the wonders of underwater caves in the Caribbean.
The trip turned into a fight for survival as six people from the Scuba Dragons Dive Team in Cape Coral were face to face with Hurricane Wilma.
How horrifying was this adventure? Consider this:
• With Wilma closing in, the six were escorted from their hotel at gunpoint and sent to a supposedly more secure location.
• The roof was blown off, walls crumbled and water poured into one of the shelters where they endured most of the 36 hours of Wilma.
• Along the way they made several critical decisions that probably saved their lives.
After four days of diving, the group — Bob Palmer and his son Michael, Don Winter, Krista Patterson, Vincent Abbatellio, all of Cape Coral; and Larry Fryers of Lehigh Acres — learned Wilma and its 130 to 170 mph winds were approaching.
They tried to leave on Thursday, Oct. 20, but the airport closed.
"They escorted us out of the hotel at gunpoint at night," said Bob Palmer. "They wanted us to evacuate, but we thought we were safe in the Category 5 hotel."
The hotel guests boarded a bus and were sent to a nearby Wal-Mart.
"They wouldn't let us in," Palmer said.
Next stop was a Rotary Club, but the building couldn't withstand a fan on high, let alone Wilma.
Next up was a school with glass on top of block walls to keep out unwelcome guests. There were no storm shutters, and people were wading through ankle-deep water to get in.
"We refused to get off the bus," said Palmer. He heard later that people in that shelter did not receive food or water for about 30 hours.
The bus driver took the group back to the bus depot as winds were kicking up about 50 to 60 mph.
Then, police showed up and took the group to another shelter. It was about 3 a.m. on a Friday.
"The storm is just raging," Palmer said. "The shelter starts to crumble around us. The shutters blew in. The windows blew in. The window frames blew in.
"We all huddled in 6 to 12 inches of water with a blanket over our heads to protect us
from the falling debris."
"Hypothermia was setting in, and we were were shaking like a leaf. We huddled together to try and get warm," Winter said.
The nightmare was reaching a crescendo.
"It was when we were in the shelter, windows blown in and roof falling and knew they couldn't evacuate us. That was the worst time of the whole thing," Palmer said.
"I don't know if I thought I was going to die, but I was very concerned about our safety."
Most would consider Winter a trained tough guy. He was in the military, Navy and Army, for 14 years. He also was a state trooper. He's led dive trips to Cancun for 20 years. Wilma buckled him.
"It just never stopped. I said, 'please God, let the roof come down and kill us.' I didn't want to live anymore."
Finally, Wilma's eye passed over Cancun.
"We thought this can't be the eye. This has to be the end," Palmer said.
The people were moved to another shelter. Wilma's fury re-fired.
"The second shelter pretty much held," Palmer said.
After 36 hours, Wilma moved on. Winter will never forget the bravery of the Mexican people, especially when the walls crumbled in the first shelter, exposing the group to the storm.
"The Mexican people kept us alive," Winter said. "They would lock arms in rain jackets and protect as many people as they could behind them. They put themselves in the biggest part of the danger."
Once it was safe to leave, officials at the shelter told people they were going to send them to the inland town of Merida.
"They told us we could get our stuff later," Palmer said.
That stuff was thousands of dollars worth of diving equipment.
"No way we were going to leave this kind of equipment," he said.
As others left for Merida, Palmer's group persuaded a young cab driver to take them back to their hotel.
"We had to push her over the curb, through a couple of feet of water, under downed power lines and through broken trees," Palmer said.
Palmer said they later heard the bus to Merida never made it. It was blocked by flooded roads holding four to five feet of water. "We don't know what happened to those people."
At the hotel, the group saw their rooms had broken windows but were livable. There wasn't much to eat, scrambled eggs and french fries, and little to drink — a litre of water a day for six people — and no power or plumbing. They lived that way for about three days.
On Thursday, Oct. 27, they learned flights might be leaving for the United States. With about 3,000 other people, they showed up outside the airport.
By Thursday afternoon, they were on a flight home.
Palmer and the rest of the group had little contact with family in Cape Coral during the ordeal.
Palmer, however, did find a way to let his wife know he and his son were OK.
"Once the hurricane hit, CNN or one of the national networks was interviewing somebody. I made a concerted effort to get my face behind the camera. Somebody called her (his wife) and said they saw Bob," he said.
— Tom Hayden is Cape Coral editor of The News-Press.
www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051101/NEWS0101/511010368/1075
. I spent the duration of the past hurricane in Tulum. Your post was pretty much correct about the Cancun (and Cozumel) problems. It turned out to be a real mess up there. The storm stalled south of Cozumel Island, and then took the longest time to move NW towards Cancun. We had over 48 hours of tough rain and Cat. 4 winds in Tulum.
!
Boy, I'd love to hear more about those cave trips!