Hurricane spoils Bettendorf couple’s honeymoon

A dream vacation this month in Cancun turned into a nightmare for one Bettendorf couple. Tammy and Barry Spidell spent four lovely days in sun-filled Mexico …and then two horrible days there sitting out Hurricane Wilma. Tammy Spidell says they spent 48 hours in a shelter with 2,400 other people, though its capacity was a thousand. “The roof was falling in, we were barricaded inside,” she says. “You really gain a whole new respect for what the people in New Orleans went through, let me tell you.” Officials originally told them to expect to spend four or five hours in the shelter, so they brought diversions like a pack of cards. A group that spent their time together in the shelter was getting pretty tired of it by Hour Forty, she says. “They were not forthcoming with information — we got very spotty updates, and it was very frustrating for everyone that was there.” The airport closed down before the couple could get there to try and leave for home. Barry says the two Iowans had no choice but to suffer through Nature’s wrath. He says you didn’t know what to expect from minute to minute. The wind would start howling and he’d think ‘Okay, what’s going to happen next?” The couple finally got home this week, tanned and full of stories.