The streets of San Jose del Cabo, Mexico, were eerily quiet on the morning of Monday, Sept. 15.
It was the day after a Category 3 hurricane smashed into the resort town, one of the most intense hurricanes to hit the Baja peninsula, with winds of 125 mph (200 km/hr).
Brianna Furtney can remember every detail of that long, loud night of Hurricane Odile and wandering out of her condo the morning after.
Every light post and window was smashed, every palm tree was down and cars had been thrown into the middle of the street like children’s toys.
“It was insane to see this beautiful paradise completely destroyed,” said Furtney who is originally from Cochrane. “In the morning there was nobody on the streets. It felt like a zombie apocalypse.”
There is a popular saying according to Furtney about this beautiful area of Mexico — no bad days.
“But now we see that there are some bad days,” she said.
Furtney and her husband Caleb Clark, also from Cochrane, were married in the area four years ago. Shortly after, they decided to make San Jose del Cabo their permanent home, a home she described as heaven, and almost never having a cloud in the sky.
Clark owns a social media marketing company and Furtney teaches Grade 1.
“That’s our home and our home was destroyed,” she continued on the phone from her in-laws house in Calgary. “We have such a personal connection to the community.”
Now the couple, along with two others who are teachers from San Jose del Cabo, has started a fundraising campaign called Canada Cares 4 Cabo, focused on raising money to help San Jose – a place Furtney said has very resilient people.
Furtney said that they had heard a few days before there was going to be a hurricane, but it originally wasn’t supposed to hit their location.
At the last minute it took a turn inward and landed, and people were not prepared for it, according to Furtney.
On Sunday, Sept. 14 mid afternoon, she said it began to become stormy and began to get worse as the night went on. At 10 p.m. the power went out, and as she described, the wind came on.
“It’s true what they say, it does sound like a freight train. I’ve heard people say that. The sound is deafening. You hear branches breaking and trees breaking all around you,” she said.
The glass windows of their condo were bending in an out as if they were as delicate as paper, large pieces of metal roofing flew by and she recalled seeing a garage door zip by their condo.
The couple hid in a closet when the wind was at its peak, because they felt that was the safest spot in the house.
“It went on for hours. I just kept thinking ‘when is it going to end?’ It would just keep getting worse and worse,” said Furtney.
At around 6 a.m. the wind had died down and they attempted to leave their condo, entering what looked like a war zone.
She said because they had prepared with food and water, they became a bit of a safe house for neighbours who had experienced severe damage.
Furtney explained that there was no way of communicating with no cell service and no working radios.
They kept going to nearby resorts to check if they had heard anything about air rescue. On Tuesday, they had received word that the next day planes were coming to evacuate tourists.
Buses came and took them to the airport Wednesday morning. Their first priority was the tourists, which Furtney said brought on some feelings of guilt.
“We were getting special treatment. I would talk to my neighbour who was Mexican and she had to stay. It just broke my heart,” she said.
She said when they arrived there was barely an airport remaining and there was a line that was miles long of people waiting.
After waiting for hours and moving a foot for an hour, she said she wondered if they had made a huge mistake going there, having given away all of their food and water back at their condo.
Eventually, after boarding the plane and making a long trip to Calgary via Toronto, they arrived home to relieved parents who hadn’t heard from them since the hurricane hit.
Furtney said they started Canada Cares 4 Cabo because they felt helpless when they left.
“We were sitting here just completely sick like, ‘what can we do?’ In some ways you wish that you stayed to help out, but we felt that it was a bit dangerous to stay with the looting and we had heard another hurricane was on its way,” she explained.
They will be returning Oct. 9, and Furtney said the immediate plan is to use the money raised to help kids get what they need to return to school – whether that be school supplies or basic things like food and clothing.
But as Furtney explained, the fund is something they hope to maintain even after the hurricane devastation has been cleaned up, continuing to help school children in the area who are in need.
They will be hosting an event called Battle for Baja held at Test Kitchen in Calgary Oct. 9. There will be four chefs, and ticket holders vote on the best tacos. Tickets are $50 each and can be purchased online. All proceeds go to the Canada Cares 4 Cabo.
“It’s paradise there, it’s like heaven. So it’s sad to see it look so sad and broken,” Furtney said, admitting she is a bit nervous to go back. “At the same time, I can finally do something and I can help out, help clean up and see where the donations can be used.”
For more information on how you can help or to donate visit canadacares4cabo.ca or facebook.com/cc4cabo.
