PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) -- The website reads: "Water flows through, under and around Sandals South Coast." Those features were just what three families had in mind for their annual October trip to the islands. A significant storm was possible, but unlikely.

"So we had heard about a tropical depression," said Jessica Pope. "We knew, but we travel the Caribbean every October. So we do this every year and never had this problem. So when we left on Tuesday, we knew there was a tropical depression. By Thursday here, they started saying this is going to be a major event."

As the storm transitioned from an inconvenience to unsurvivable in a matter of hours, the families started looking for flights to head back home.

"They were on Delta flights," Pope said. "They couldn't get any flights out. We

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