Yeah the wind was crazy. So were the waves.
We were told on August 20 that we would have an 8pm curfew. We had postings on our door telling us what to do. We were told that only 4 resturants would be open for dinner. We had to be back at our room by 8pm. We had to lock the doors, close the curtains, not use the jaquzzi, etc. We were told that the electricity would go out around midnight most likely. But that never happened. We were out until 8pm and it was raining worse than any storm I'd ever seen here in Michigan. It was lightening and thrundering and the wind was horrible. So we went back to our room, did as we were told and hunkered down because we were expecting something really horrible and we were really afraid. Around 11pm we got a phone call stating that we had 15 mins to get to the convention center, to leave everything in our room except the important things, such as passport, medications, etc. We had already packed our bags earlier that day becuase if there was any type of damage to the resort, we thought it might be easier to find our stuff if it was all in one bag. So we put those in the shower in our bathroom. We grabbed our bags and went to the convention center. It was pitch black outside except for the lights in the hallway. The wind was blowing harder than I had ever felt it blow. The rain was coming down something awful. There were employees telling us which way to go and what not. So we went to the convention center where they had all the hurricane shutters closed...they had set up about 200 beach chairs in rows...we had a pillow, sheet, and blanket. They had all the lights dimmed so people could sleep. They had pop, coffee, water, etc all set up for us. We were allowed to use laptops if we had them, we could use cell phones, etc. They had both bathrooms open for us. There were cars inside. It was scary. They checked us in when we came in too, to be sure that everyone in the resort made it to the convention center. It was really eerie.
Finally we went to sleep...and when we woke up we were told they didnt know how long we'd have to stay in there...but they had a complete breakfast buffet for us for breakfast. Then around 8am we were told we could leave and go back to our rooms. The hallways were flooded...the waves were huge, the wind was still strong. They said we had to stay in our rooms until further notice. So around 1pm we were told that they opened 1 resturant for lunch. We still weren't supposed to go swimming or go near the water or anything. So...thats my hurricane story...not that anyone cares...LOL. Below are some more pics from the hurricane.
Huge Wave After Dean
What chairs we didnt sleep in...they sunk so they wouldnt blow away.
More Damage after Dean
One side of the convention center
The other side of the convention center
Cars in the convention center
After Dean Breakfast
