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Travel agent finally returns to US after weathering hurricane in Grenada
Hurricane Beryl strikes the southern tip of Grenada on July 1. (Credit: Elaine Pesto)
Elaine Pesto was visiting Grenada for her work as a travel agent when Hurricane Beryl struck the region.
Pesto, 56, arrived in Grenada on Saturday afternoon with a group of seven other travel agents.
“We checked in, and that’s when they informed us that we probably had to leave,” Pesto told CNN.
Though the group tried to leave almost immediately Saturday night, flights back to the U.S. were prohibitively expensive, so they decided to ride out the storm, he said.
Pesto’s anxiety began to grow Sunday night. The uncertainty of waiting for the storm to pass was the most “painful” part of the experience, he said.
“When you’re in that situation, when you get those orders, it doesn’t matter if you’re an experienced traveler or not, you’re going to get anxious,” he said. “You feel like it’s getting closer to you. “It was a little stressful.”
Sleep was difficult Sunday night as Pesto stayed up to get the latest updates on the storm. On Monday morning he began to feel the storm with rain and strong winds.
“I could feel my sliding glass door shaking. During the storm I tried to work. I tried not to think about it because otherwise I would sit there and think, ‘Oh my God. I’m in the middle of a storm,’ and I was very anxious.”
Fortunately, he said, the storm wasn’t as severe in the southern part of the island where he was staying.
On Tuesday, he was finally able to return to his home in the United States.