MILWAUKEE — Alexis Oliphant and her friends traveled to Jamaica for a girl's trip and some fun in the sun last Saturday.
The beginning of the trip was picture-perfect.
“We did rafting,” said Oliphant. “We did the blue hole jump. We did a lot of things!”
It wasn’t until the last few days of their vacation that everything changed.
VIDEO: Traveler shares close encounter with Hurricane Beryl while on vacation
“The people who were working the excursion were like, “There’s a hurricane coming, and we were all like, “What are you talking about? We didn't hear about a hurricane,” said Oliphant.
The day they were scheduled to head home was the day that Hurricane Beryl struck Jamaica.
“Seeing the hurricane was scary because we’re like, how much worse could it get?” said Oliphant. “It was scary, and you just don’t know when you are going to go home. You didn’t know how bad it was going to get.”
Oliphant and her group’s travel plans were thrown up in the air. Several of her flights were delayed and then canceled, and she was unable to get in contact with her airline after a while.
“We’re trying to call and get someone on the line, and we can’t get through anymore,” said Oliphant.
On Friday, she headed to the airport, determined to get a flight home, despite reports of it being closed.
Eventually, she was able to connect with her airline and secure a way back to Milwaukee.
Alexis shared some advice that she took away from the whole experience.
“Expect the unexpected, and overpack more than you regularly overpack,” said Oliphant.
Many are still without power from Hurricane Beryl, and clean-up efforts are just starting.
Two people have died in the country from the hurricane.
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