Hurricane Odile: Southern California woman talks being stranded

LOS ANGELES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (KABC) -- Hurricane Odile barreled into the resort towns of Cabo San Lucas and San Jose Del Cabo, bringing winds of up to 125 mph, torrential rain and high surf.

The category 3 hurricane is the strongest on record to hit Baja California.

"The overall storm was about five, six hours, I would say, from beginning to end. It was non-stop terror," said Azita Forouzesh, a tourist visiting from San Diego.

She rode out the hurricane at the Fiesta Americana Grand in Cabo and took pictures of the aftermath. She said the hotel ushered all the guests into the ballroom and interior parts of the resort before the eye of the storm hit land.

She says it sounded like the walls were going to come down, the power went out and water began flowing into the hotel, but the staff kept everyone calm. The damage is extensive.

"Shattered glass everywhere. Debris, broken awnings, torn ceilings everywhere. There was, I can't even tell you how many empty spots we were looking at throughout this hotel," said Forouzesh.

Emergency shelters were set up to hold about 30,000 tourists. Outside the fortified resorts, many residents in Cabo San Lucas have little left.

Power lines and poles litter the streets. Roofs are torn off houses, and homes are completely flattened.

Forouzesh said she is hoping to fly back to California on Thursday.

"It was horrible. It was like nothing I've ever experienced. It was very scary, and I am so glad everybody made it okay. If anything, a lot of us here are worried about the actual residents of Cabo," she said.

The Mexican government said army and commercial planes will be sent to airports in Los Cabos and La Paz to help the stranded tourists get home.