Copyright CBS News
David and Mechelle Freeman are back in North Texas after being stuck in Jamaica for nearly two weeks. Mechelle, a track Olympian and gold-medal-winning coach, had gone east of Montego Bay to Falmouth, Jamaica. "It was 18 of us as a group, and it just turned from three days to an 11-day journey," she said. The couple said they were aware of Hurricane Melissa. Parents to 12-year-old son Bayne and 9-year-old daughter Harley, their son became a personal weather tracker, sending them updates. According to the Freemans, their travel lead for the group said the resort said "they were good." "Now, when I look back at that, it should have been some more questions," she said. "What does 'we're good' mean? Is the hurricane still coming?" Her husband said they were not sure of the storm's path until they arrived in Jamaica. Everything, he said, was happening in real time. The work retreat, meeting with family and friends, went on as planned. The Freemans said they sensed no urgency at the resort where they stayed until Sunday, October 26. The group received notice that the airport was shutting down due to Hurricane Melissa, a Category 5 storm. Four of their group got out. Fourteen had to weather the storm. " We all had to go to the convention center, where they were boarding the windows down and setting up a safe space for 600 (people)," she said. The Freemans said their group was taken to a movie theater to ride out the storm. When Melissa made landfall, roughly 60 miles southwest of where they hunkered down. The impact rattled the evacuees, 42-year-old David recalled, as he said babies crying and people yelling could be heard. He had one ear out of his headphones, but became immersed in the music. "I kept on referencing back to like just listening to the song over and over (by) Firm Foundation," he said. "And the words actually say, rain came, wind blew. My house is built on you. I'm safe with you. I know I'm going to make it through. And just repeating that over and over to get us through it." Mechelle Freeman said she watched as her husband's repetition of the song's words made her stand strong in her faith in their God. For her, it became them against the monster storm as Melissa turned up the decibels of terror. "She ripped off the solar panels. You know, you can hear that being ripped apart," said Mechelle Freeman. "You could hear a glass breaking. You can feel the rumbles," she said. "You can feel the building moving. And, you know, her intense power, a true force." When the storm did pass, the people walked out of the movie theater—their shelter in the storm—to see the damage left behind. The resort was severely damaged. According to Freemans, their hotel balcony was completely ripped off. What they saw was the least of their trouble. Communication was spotty, so speaking with family and friends was a challenge. The most significant challenge was getting back to Frisco. "So all flights were going to be canceled out of Montego Bay," Mechelle Freeman said. The Freemans were able to reach Kingston, where coordination to return to Texas became a reality. They hit American soil in Miami Monday night. By then, so much had occurred to the couple wasn't sure they'd make it. "It was almost like anticipating, I don't know, something's wrong with the engine," David Freeman said. Back in Frisco, he said his takeaway was how fear united people rather than becoming a divider. His wife was thankful that their lives produced the right people, in the right places, at the right time. "The love, the covering, the favor, everything we needed in that moment was there for us," she said. "And so I'm so grateful. I'm so grateful that we were prepared for a moment like that."
