Jamie Biesiada
Amanda Tessoff, a Highland, Mich.-based advisor with Pixie and Pirate Destinations, has spent a lot of time in the Caribbean.
Tessoff specializes in Disney Destinations, all-inclusive resorts and cruise lines, so she's no stranger to the islands. Nor is she a stranger to hurricanes: She was staying at the Sandals Montego Bay last year when Hurricane Beryl hit Jamaica over the Fourth of July holiday.
On that trip, she spent a day or so locked down in her room. After the storm, she noticed some debris and trees down.
"But overall, it wasn't a super, super scary experience," she said.
So last month, while she was in Jamaica staying at the Sandals South Coast, talk of Melissa, the then-tropical storm, didn't really phase her.
She and her fiancé, Jorge Muniz, arrived in Jamaica on the evening of Oct. 23 to celebrate a milestone birthday for Muniz. They were joined by his sister and brother-in-law and his cousin and his cousin's wife. Tessoff and Muniz planned to stay a week, with the other couples planning slightly shorter stays.
Travel advisor Amanda Tessoff’s entire travel party hunkered down at the Sandals South Coast the night after the hurricane passed: From left, Stephanie and Cristian Ruiz of Clifton Park, N.Y.; Mark Tarantelli and Virginia Muniz from Albany, N.Y.; and Tessoff and her fiance Jorge Muniz from Highland, Mich. Source: Amanda Tessoff
Talk of the storm began on Friday, Oct. 24. Some people started changing travel plans.
"But at that point, I was still like, you know what? We've been through this before -- it's no big deal," Tessoff said.
As the storm continued its slow march toward the island, the resort staff started encouraging guests to look for flights home on Saturday, Oct. 25. By then, Tessoff said, there were very limited opportunities to get out; the seats she was able to find ran about $3,000 apiece. Then, as they were still deciding whether to leave, the flights sold out.
The airport closed at noon Sunday. Tessoff knew they would be riding out the storm at Sandals.
Preparing for landfall
In the lead-up to the storm, the property held resort-wide meetings with updates for the guests still there. The slow-moving storm would eventually hit on Tuesday.
"They were really good about keeping us informed every step of the way," Tessoff said.
All guests were moved to the same building, the one farthest from the water and trees, where they were on lockdown in their rooms starting Monday. Food was delivered to them, and they were given the name of a building coordinator who would be available for emergencies. Tessoff was on the fourth floor.
The wind started picking up around 10 a.m. Tuesday.
"If you've ever heard people talk about how it sounds like a freight train, it really does," she said.
Damage from Hurricane Melissa at the Sandals South Coast. Photo Credit: Amanda Tessoff
Riding out the storm
Tessoff and Muniz decided to hunker down in their closet, which was located toward the middle of their room. It had no windows. They set up blankets and towels and periodically peered out into their room.
At one point, she said, they observed water coming in through the door. Around noon, what she believes was the eye of the storm passed, and sunlight oddly streamed in. That was their first look at the damage — the pool was full of debris and shingles were flying, but the building was sound.
As the storm continued to pass, three holes emerged in the ceiling with water "just pouring in like buckets," Tessoff said. A strong burning smell also started to emanate from behind the room's electrical unit, prompting them to report it and move to Muniz's brother and sister-in-law's room down the hall (nothing ever did catch fire).
That evening, Tessoff and Muniz were given a new room, and thanks to a generator, they had power. It was still raining. By the time they woke up the next morning, though, the power was out and so was the water. They spent two days without power or water, and with the knowledge that roads weren't passable between the resort and the airport.
Devastation in the aftermath
Tessoff's party and the 70 or so other people who rode out the storm were bused to the Sandals Negril on Thursday night. It was a two-hour trip.
"We're seeing all the devastation for the first time, but also we're dodging huge piles of debris and electrical lines and just all the things," Tessoff said. "It was wild."
The devastation, she said, "is just awful. And I feel horrible for all the locals."
Once they made it to the Sandals Negril, they were greeted by water and power, thanks to a generator. Tessoff's relatives were able to fly out Saturday morning and arrive home by the evening. That same day, Tessoff and Muniz were told about a charter flight to Miami. An hour out from the airport, the flight was canceled, but on Monday morning, another charter made it.
Amanda Tessoff and fiancé Jorge Muniz at the Sandals Negril, where Tessoff's travel party and others were moved in the wake of Hurricane Melissa. Source: Amanda Tessoff
Due to the lack of power, boarding passes and bag tags were handwritten at the airport. There was no air conditioning, and some fellow travelers passed out. But by Monday night, Tessoff and Muniz made it to Miami, then to Detroit in the wee hours of Tuesday.
While the hurricane made for a few roller coaster days, Tessoff said Sandals' staff members were standouts.
"Many of them hadn't even been able to get ahold of their own families to find out if they were OK, and here they were bending over backward for us, making sure that we're fed, making sure that we're taken care of, that we're not scared," she said. "They were just amazing."
Returning to the Caribbean
Would she travel to the Caribbean in hurricane season again?
"I, personally, would not hesitate to go to the Caribbean," Tessoff said.
She wouldn't hesitate to book it for clients, either, but she might start pushing travel insurance a bit more strongly than before after her family members paid a high price for their Saturday flights.
The charter flight that flew Amanda Tessoff and her fiancé from Montego Bay to Miami. Photo Credit: Amanda Tessoff
Tessoff said she will also share the story with clients as an example of travel not always being perfect.
"Not everything goes perfectly and as planned, but this is when it really is good to have a travel advisor, a professional, on your side," Tessoff said, noting a fellow advisor helped her book her flight from Miami to Detroit.
"Even as a travel advisor, I had somebody on my side helping me out, which was nice."