LAKE WORTH, Fla. — Anthony and Lois Oler are still processing the last 48 hours.
They faced a whirlwind of emotions that started when Hurricane Beryl rolled ashore early Friday in Cancun, Mexico during their family vacation.
"I was afraid something was going to happen. If it's not my windows getting imploded, it would be the building collapsing altogether," Lake Worth resident Lois Oler said. "I was stuck. I was afraid. I felt so vulnerable."
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Lake Worth family in Cancun calls Beryl 'something I've never experienced'
Unable to get a flight back to South Florida, they braced themselves as the storm made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane.
"I woke up because my bed was shaking and when I felt my bed moving ... I heard the noise of ... the howling of the wind, the humming," Lois Oler said.
She explained that they activated their safety plan, starting with sheltering their family of six in the bathroom of their hotel room.
"I hugged one side of the toilet," said Lois Oler. "My son hugged the other side of the toilet. My husband blocked the door and held our 5-year-old child trying to secure her."
They stayed there until the storm passed. When they finally got out of the bathroom they found their room had flooded.
"The water from the air coming through the windows, the cracks, and the little holes around the framing of the window were pushing water from our balcony into our room," Anthony Oler said.
"We had water coming out of our ceiling in our bathroom that we were in," added Lois Oler.
They said the scariest part was being away from home and feeling they weren't getting all the information they needed to stay safe.
Now, they're thankful to be back in Florida and feel they'll be better prepared for the next storm.
"[It's a] feeling of relief for sure," Anthony Oler said.
"I feel not only relief, but we will have a better plan of action so that this will never ever happen to us again," Lois Oler said.
