Almost every year we get a hurricane warning and in the past have done all of the recommended things to protect ourselves and our home.  Other than some heavy rain and a moderate swell, in the past we never even felt a breeze.  The weather forecast on the night of the 24th said that we could expect the rain to begin at 8:00 am and the storm should reach us by 2:00 pm.  Not bothering to tape windows or secure outdoor furniture, we went to sleep, thankful at the prospect of another rainfall to bring the level up to normal. 

We awoke at 8:30 am to the sound of strong winds lashing our trees and watched as they were bent over farther than we had ever witnessed.  Phil jumped up and remembered that he had not taken ANY precautions the night before.  He raced to the pool and tossed anything lightweight into the water and tucked everything else away.  He had to secure the condo upstairs as well and closed all of the patio doors and windows at record speed.  I dozed in bed, enjoying the wind through the trees, a very rare sight until I heard Phil exclaim, "Holy, there go the tiles from the house below us".  At this point, I had a slight recall of some Discovery Channel program, Storm Watch or something like that and bolted out of bed to see a very amazing storm.  Normally fascinated by weather phenomena, I felt the first tinges of fear.  Similar to my feelings in our big earthquake in the 90's, I could not remember what we were taught in school about what to do in the event of a hurricane.  (Actually, we were instructed what to do if we found ourselves in an earthquake, a hurricane was not even mentioned in Canada)  The huge panes of (untaped) glass were shuddering and we decided to dash upstairs to our children's condo for comfort and safety in numbers. 

The dog was taken to the street but as she prepared for her morning constitutional, a refrigerator that was discarded the day before in the trash suddenly dropped off the cliff and a tree fell so the dog lost her desire and flew indoors.  Power had been cut  so we had no communication other than reports from friends in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico City, Guadalajara and as far away as Canada.  Strangely enough, our fairly inadequate phone system never went out, this is a milestone. 

As we watched the storm, actually standing on the terrace and holding on to pillars we had no idea that the immense waves that we saw would do such extensive damage to parts of Puerto Vallarta.  Kenna began suddenly and ended the same way, a mere 4 hours was all she gave us but that was more than enough in terms of ferocity. 

We assessed our damage and discovered that there was absolutely none.  In fact, a sliding glass door that never worked in the past was now perfect.  How is that for good luck?

After a safe hour or so, we ventured out to check on our son-in-law's restaurant in El Centro.  Most traffic was not permitted to pass, but we managed to snake our way through the rubble and were relieved to find that Benitto's Deli was perfect.  We wanted to check on some friends' stores on the Malecon and were definitely not prepared for the sight that was before us.  Almost every business that had windows was in shambles, broken glass, t-shirts, sandals and even tourist items and jewelry were strewn on the Malecon. 

Looters were out in full force but out police had the area cordoned off and were very respective of the owners who sifted through glass and sand to retrieve what was left of their merchandise.   The Malecon itself was recognizable, but enormous boulders littered the street and sand was everywhere.  The sidewalk was uneven and the section with the bronze statues had dropped several feet.