I woke to a pittance of light, and the need to use the bathroom.  I was groggy, didn't think to put my shoes on (I had made a BIG mistake the night before in taking them off) and picked up one of the plastic chairs from the night before (the ones we had been sitting on).  With the chair in my hand, I stepped down from the bathroom to the bedroom (one small step) and my feet (on the wet slippery floor) went right out from under me! I fell...HARD...on the tile...hitting both my upper right thigh and my head.  Al woke up at that point! I was dazed, but OK (sort of).

Although the morning had arrived, the storm continued on. It was Saturday, October 22, the day we were supposed to be flying home.  The winds were still howling and it was raining hard, but I could make out the movement of individuals down in the courtyard. I opened the door to our stairway and ventured down two steps to get a better look.  At the bottom of the staircase, totally blocking any direct exit,  was a huge mangled mess:  an enormous mound of debris consisting of an entire palm tree, a metal block, all kinds of wood, cement, etc.  Looking around, I could see windows broken in all directions.  The courtyard was stripped of all vegetation.

From where I was standing, I could look up to Larry and Darlene's room and saw a huge open space where their glass door had been the night before.  A curtain was blowing in and out of the open space.  Obviously, Larry and Darlene's sliding glass door had been one of the ones blown out the night before.  I wondered where they were now. I noticed more and more people appearing on the balconies and waved at both John and Joanna.  Below in the courtyard, I saw Phil.

Al decided to take off and see if anyone needed help.  My hip and jaw were really hurting (I couldn't open my mouth fully), so I tried to lay down, but couldn't lay on the injured side. When Al returned, he told me that our friends Sue and Meg would be coming up to stay with us.  Apparently, Sue, Meg, Shirley and Mike had spent the night battling the storm surge that invaded the ground level room they were sharing.  Shirley and Mike were with Bill and Anaka, resting. 

Al left again to see what else needed to be done and I returned to my safe vantage point on the step.  I watched as various figures dashed across the courtyard in the wind and driving rain. (We guess that the winds at that time were still in the 90 - 100 mph range).  At one point, I thought I saw Jason carrying a black plastic bag and running up some stairs.  I thought that perhaps he and Rachel had to move to another room, but as it turns out, he was playing "breakfast fairy" (John's term), along with Al and Phil.  Edgar had let them into the upstairs kitchen (which had escaped damage), to gather some rolls and miniature cereal boxes, and the trio was delivering a makeshift "breakfast" to everyone in the resort. 

Shortly, Meg and Sue arrived in our room, exhausted, and still in somewhat of a state of shock over the happenings of the night before.  Having escaped from their own room early on Friday morning because of the encroaching surf, they had taken refuge with Mike and Shirley.

 The foursome thought that they would be safe in their room tucked back by the dive shop, but when the winds shifted after Wilma's eye passed, the waves escalated and began crashing against their door.  They became increasingly frightened and had just about decided to "abandon ship" and come upstairs to stay with us when a giant wave took the door to their room down and the water came surging in.  It was pitch black outside; the winds were roaring; and the water was coming so fast that they didn't think the could make it safely to escape anywhere.  They retreated to the bathroom and for the next twelve hours, they bailed water and fought off various and sundry pieces of debris that the ocean water carried into the room (slabs of concrete, large pieces of metal, a stone sculpture, someone's mini-refrigerator, etc.). Finally, when light appeared in the early morning, they were able to escape to another room.  No doubt about it...this foursome had the worst experience of any of us and they handled it with resourcefulness, tenacity and aplomb.  They were our quintessential "storm troopers!"

Others also had harrowing experiences.  Although the storm was still raging, people could run from room to room and we had several visitors throughout the day.  We learned that Larry and Darlene had escaped their room when a wind gust ripped the frame of their sliding glass door out of the wall and the glass shattered across the room.  They later returned to the room and spent the night sleeping in the shower stall.  Larry described how Darlene made up a "bed" in the shower using a blanket and pillows.  They had to lay with their legs up against the shower walls, but at least they were able to get some sleep and remained dry.  Joanna and Karan also spent the night in their bathroom after their sliding glass door exploded.  They tried to get out of their room, but couldn't get their hallway door open because of the winds.  They were essentially trapped inside for the night.  Phil and Pat, who were in a second level unit adjacent to the water, spent the night listening to the surge pound up against the staircase leading to their room and hearing sounds of "things" being dislodged and knocked about.  They didn't know from one minute to another if their unit would come crashing down.  It remained intact, but in the morning they saw that the entire railing to the staircase had been washed away, leaving only a battered flight of steps leading from their room down to the courtyard.  There really seemed to be no end to the stories the group told of the "night of terror." 

Mid-day one of the staff brought around wonderful ham and cheese sandwiches.  We were amazed because we weren't expecting food from the kitchen that day.  I had been thinking we would be eating granola bars for lunch and dinner.

It rained all day and we continued to experience hurricane force winds.  Wilma, it seems, was stuck over Cancun and would continue to pound us until she moved on.  We were all concerned about our families at home.  They had been expecting phone calls Friday afternoon.  This was Saturday, and we still didn't have any idea when we would be able to contact anyone. No phones were working; there was no radio.  We were still cut off from the world.

The time passed more quickly with Meg and Sue in our room.  We were laughing about how we would arrange sleeping for the night ahead (four people, one bed) when Mike came by and said that Jim and Carol had an extra bed and that Sue and Meg could go in with them.  Mike and Shirley were doubling up with Jason and Rachel.  Thankfully, it looked like our group would have enough beds for heads for the night!

It got dark about 6PM and Al and I sat alone in our candlelit room.  It was completely black outside, but every once in a while we could see  beams of light in the courtyard aimed in random directions.  Someone was out and about!  The light would disappear and then reappear somewhere else.  We heard voices.  Eventually, we heard footsteps on our stairs.  A Mexican-accented voice called out:  "Domino's delivery!"  It was Edgar, delivering "dinner"...a choice of tuna or ham sandwiches!  Having expected that our mid-day sandwich was all we would have for the day, we were elated!  I can't remember whether I had tuna or ham, but I remember it was to die for!  We even had some wine left over from the night before!  It was a feast fit for kings...or at least for hurricane survivors! 

Al and I turned in early, exhausted, but not  looking forward to the gritty sheets, smelly pillows, and damp, clammy atmosphere of the room.  I had that creepy/crawly feeling that comes from being dirty and sweaty and, on top of everything else, couldn't roll over on my injured right hip.  Outside, the storm continued on, although it wasn't anywhere near as loud as the night before.  I was afraid that I was in for another night of waking up every hour, but exhaustion took over. I was out for the entire night.