Vancouver chocolatier survives Hurricane Beryl in hotel room

Vancouver chocolatier Thomas Haas, his wife and children arrived in Jamaica on Monday for a big family reunion. But one of his wife’s cousins ​​backed out at the last minute.

“He said something like, ‘No, I’ve done my research. It doesn’t look good for the hurricane to go straight to Jamaica,'” Haas said.

It turns out that cousin was right. As Hurricane Beryl approached Jamaica on Wednesday, Haas and his family locked down in their Montego Bay hotel room.

“It really got intense at one o’clock and we saw the first couple of metal roofs go off as we looked down the beach,” Haas said. “And then from 5 to 8 o’clock in the evening it was torrential rain, 140 mile an hour winds and you could see things flying through the air.”

Haas and his family were relieved to be able to ride out the storm in a large hotel, but they were concerned about the local population.

“Just the thought of what’s happening in the city is probably the saddest occupier of your mind,” he said. “I thought, ‘Oh my God, I don’t know what’s going to happen there.'”

Around midnight, after the storm had passed, he went to the lobby.

“The entire lobby was in pieces, the glass was broken, it was flooded and it was eerily quiet,” he said.

On Thursday morning, Haas inspected the site and saw destruction everywhere.

“About half a dozen buildings, gazebos, a whole row of concrete umbrellas and palm trees have collapsed,” he said.

The guests at the family reunion and others decided to do their part.

“We raked the beaches and took out bags and bags of rubble and with all the bad experiences and the devastation, it was a small benefit,” he said.

With the airport still closed, Haas is unsure if he will make his scheduled flight home on Saturday.

“We’re just going to take it day by day and go with the flow,” he said.

Although the trip didn’t go as expected, he said, “It was definitely a family reunion to remember.”