232807

Kelowna  

Escape from Cabo

Video by Trevor Rockliffe

Since Castanet's first story on the Kelowna couple who survived Hurricane Odile, a few other Okanagan residents have shared their stories, adding to the picture of chaos that ensued in the wake of the storm.

The category 4 Hurricane Odile ravaged Mexico's Baja Peninsula on Sunday Sept 14. There was widespread destruction and more than 30,000 tourists were stranded in the country. This is in addition to the tens of thousands of locals who lost their homes or places of work.

In the days that followed the hurricane locals, tourists and ex-pats took to the streets for survival. 

Lisa and Kurt Nordstokke retired this year and had been living in their condo in Cabo San Lucas since June 1. They had just returned from buying supplies at Costco when the hurricane hit.

"We could hardly get back to our condo," Lisa said in an interview. "And then it just picked up. We lost TV at 6:30 p.m., and we lost total cell service at 9 p.m., I sent my daughter a message and that was it. After 9 p.m. that's when all chaos broke loose."

"We hunkered down in the bedroom and the winds were crazy, of course, and rain - we were in the eye-wall, so at one point it stopped. All of the sudden it's quiet and it was the weirdest thing when it picked up. The winds were coming one way and then after the eye-wall they whipped around the other way."

The change in wind direction caught the neighbours windows on the floor above them. "We heard glass smashing and furniture flying above our heads and we thought 'Is it going to cave in? What's next?'"

Around first light the next morning, Nordstokke said they crawled out and saw massive destruction.

"One man from Calgary had all of his living room and bedroom windows blown out. He had to crawl through glass to get to a neighbour in another building."

By 9 a.m. Lisa and her husband saw people looting an Oxxo store which is similar to our 7/11 stores.

What surprised them the most was seeing people from their own condo complex joining in the spree.

"It wasn't only locals, it was gringo or tourist populations looting as well."

"We watched as one couple carried in numerous bottles of wine they had taken from a specialty wine store that had been completely destroyed," she said. "We witnessed the military and police doing little to nothing to stop the looting, and in some cases, helping. In other instances the local police were seen filling their cars with big screen TV's and other electronics like washers, dryers and fridges."

Thousands and thousands of homes that belonged to residents of Cabo San Lucas and the surrounding area had been destroyed. 

Notwithstanding that, Lisa said many Mexican locals stayed at the resorts to take care of the tourists. 

"They're amazing, " she said. "When you've lost your entire home, and maybe even some family members and you're still working. Most of us, there's no way, after a disaster if you lost your entire home, could you return to work that day."

However, Nordstokke said when they saw Costco and Wal Mart had been looted out, they knew they had to get out.

Thankfully, their building manager had offered sound advice before the storm hit. 

"We asked our property manager what to do before the hurricane hit and the best advice we got was to fill the gas tank. They said not to worry because the hurricanes never hit."

Nordstokke was worried, so she got gas, water and enough non-perishable food to last five days, if they rationed.

On Tuesday the Nordstokkes along with their neighbours in the condominium, an American couple in their 60s, headed for La Paz. La Paz is about 160 kilometres north of Cabo and suffered less extensive damage.

"La Paz was damaged as well and functioning at maybe 50 per cent after the hurricane, compared to Los Cabo which was not functioning at all."

They had found a hotel which was on a military grid, so it had some power and water. They arrived that night and were finally able to get a message out to their families on the Wednesday.

Although La Paz had suffered to a lesser extent, there was still no cell service for days and bank machines weren't operating.

"It was a cash only society for a few days and we were lucky our friends had enough cash on hand to help us make it through until we were able to access our bank accounts. Nothing is more frightening or stressful than being in a foreign country during a natural disaster with very limited cash and no access to your bank account."

They began to hear horror stories from other people fleeing Cabo. It was rumoured that jails had broken and organized gangs were in the streets killing people. Eventually the Mexican military came in full force and established curfews to curb the violence and stealing.

Looking forward, Nordstokke said their foursome is going back to Cabo on Friday to try and get their belongings out of their condo. Then for them, it's back to Kelowna. 

Their condo wasn't damaged except for some water. However without power or air conditioning, and with all grocery stores looted and destroyed, they have to get out. 

"This disaster will affect me now, but in the long run, I would come back here in a heart beat," Lisa said. "It's just right now, you kind of want to hug your family and go home to what you know."

They will be driving back on Saturday Sept 27.



More Kelowna News