Read the full article on KETV 7
WINTER OF WAR SERIES CONTINUES WITH A LOOK AT EVERYDAY LIFE IN UKRAINE IS GETTING WORSE AND WORSE AND HARDER AND HARDER. LIVE FROM SEVEN BURLINGTON STATION. THIS IS OMAHA’S NEWS AND WEATHER LEADER KETV NEWSWATCH SEVEN AT SIX. SOME NEBRASKANS ARE STRANDED IN MEXICO, WITH PLANS TO HOPEFULLY RETURN HOME SOON. THANKS FOR JOINING US. I’M JULIE CORNELL, THE MEXICAN MILITARY KILLED A POWERFUL CARTEL LEADER OVER THE WEEKEND, REPORTEDLY WITH THE HELP OF U.S. INTELLIGENCE. THAT LED TO CHAOS IN THE STREETS. KETV NEWSWATCH SEVEN’S ERIN HAGERTY IS LIVE AT EPPLEY AIRFIELD AFTER SPEAKING WITH AMERICAN TOURISTS. ERIN. YEAH. JULIE. RIGHT NOW A FEW MEXICAN AIRPORTS ARE SEEING DISRUPTIONS. SO IF YOU’RE PLANNING ON COMING TO EPPLEY SOON IN ORDER TO HEAD SOUTH, THE U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SAYS YOU SHOULD RECONSIDER, DEPENDING ON WHERE EXACTLY YOU’RE HEADED. IN OMAHA, COUPLE SAYS THEY WERE DOLPHIN WATCHING WHEN CHAOS ERUPTED IN PUERTO VALLARTA OVER THE WEEKEND. SO WHEN WE LEFT, IT WAS PACKED DOWN THERE. AND THEN WHEN WE PULLED BACK IN, IT WAS A GHOST TOWN. SUPPOSED TO LEAVE MONDAY. NOW THEY HAVE A FLIGHT ON FRIDAY. AN EXPENSIVE CHANGE OF PLANS. THERE’S WORSE PLACES TO BE STUCK, I GUESS, THAN ON A BEACH IN MEXICO. BUT ANOTHER FAMILY TELLS ME THEIR SUNDAY FLIGHT WAS CANCELED. NOW THE HOPE IS TO COME HOME ON FRIDAY AFTER VENTURING OUT TO FIND FOOD, THE MOM TELLS ME THE QUIET STREETS REMIND HER OF PANDEMIC LIFE. A COUNCIL BLUFFS MAN TELLS KETV HE’S COME TO PUERTO VALLARTA FOR THE WINTER. SINCE HIS RETIREMENT. THE WEATHER IS NICE, BUT IT’S NOT HIS ONLY REASON. THE CULTURE HERE IS JUST AWESOME. IT’S PEOPLE ARE GREAT, SO I FEEL FOR THEM MORE THAN ANYTHING. SUNDAY, AUSTIN BAILEY SAW THE SMOKE AND KNEW SOMETHING WAS WRONG. IT KIND OF REMINDED ME OF BEING BACK IN IRAQ. MONDAY. HE SAW THE AFTERMATH OF UNREST, BUT SAYS THINGS SEEM TO BE RETURNING TO NORMAL. THIS IS THE DEPARTMENT OF STAYING IN. AND HE SAID, THIS IS MY NEIGHBORHOOD. YOU KNOW THIS BECAUSE AS YOU CAN SEE, THERE’S PEOPLE WALKING ABOUT EVERYWHERE. BAILEY SAYS HE’S MADE SEVERAL TRIPS TO MEXICO SINCE 2006 AND ADDS, THIS EXPERIENCE IS A FIRST. IT WAS REALLY IT WAS REALLY A SHOCK. IT WAS REALLY A HUGE SHOCK. HE DOES HAVE CONCERNS. YOU KIND OF WONDER IF IT’S GOING TO CREATE A VACUUM AND HAVE OPEN IT TO OTHER PEOPLE TRYING TO COME IN AND TAKE OVER. HE WAS PLANNING TO RETURN TO COUNCIL BLUFFS IN APRIL, BUT SAYS HE’LL STAY FLEXIBLE NOW. I’M GONNA GIVE IT 48 HOURS TO SEE HOW THINGS PLAY OUT.
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Omaha tourists ‘stuck’ in Puerto Vallarta after Sunday’s unrest
Omaha tourists in Puerto Vallarta who planned to leave Sunday and Monday now find themselves “stuck” after the Mexican government killed the country’s most-wanted cartel leader.The two tourists told KETV their families’ returns are now scheduled for Thursday and Friday. While they say it’s an expensive change of plans, neither said they’re afraid. One of the tourists said she travels there often and she loves the town. She said she believes the cartel aimed to shut down travel.They said it seems things may be returning to normal, but because of a lack of travel, the streets are quiet, and some spots are short on food.More than a tourist, Austin Bailey of Council Bluffs said he’s spent winters in Puerto Vallarta since he retired four years ago. He’s been traveling there since 2006, he said, and he’s never seen anything like the unrest he saw Sunday.”The culture here is just awesome,” Bailey told KETV. “People are great. So I feel for them more than anything.”After seeing smoke in the air Sunday, Bailey saw torched businesses on Monday. He planned to return in April, but said he’s assessing over the next 48 hours to see if he should return earlier.He said he wonders if the Mexican government’s killing of the cartel leader might “create a vacuum and open it to other people trying to come in and take over.” Omaha travel advisor Robert Lopez, the owner of Freedom Travel, suggests when Americans travel outside the U.S., they should enroll in STEP with the State Department so they receive notification of safety advisory changes and so the U.S. would know where they are if something happens.The U.S. State Department says the airports in Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara are experiencing disruptions because of road blockages. The government advises Americans in several cities to shelter in place: Jalisco State (including Puerto Vallarta, Chapala, and Guadalajara)Baja California State (including Tijuana, Tecate, and Ensenada)Nayarit State (including the Nuevo Nayarit/Nuevo Vallarta area near Puerta Vallarta)Areas of Colima, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Estado de México, Michoacán, Nuevo León, Oaxaca, Puebla, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Veracruz, and Zacatecas statesUpdates are available here.
Omaha tourists in Puerto Vallarta who planned to leave Sunday and Monday now find themselves “stuck” after the Mexican government killed the country’s most-wanted cartel leader.
The two tourists told KETV their families’ returns are now scheduled for Thursday and Friday.
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While they say it’s an expensive change of plans, neither said they’re afraid. One of the tourists said she travels there often and she loves the town. She said she believes the cartel aimed to shut down travel.
They said it seems things may be returning to normal, but because of a lack of travel, the streets are quiet, and some spots are short on food.
More than a tourist, Austin Bailey of Council Bluffs said he’s spent winters in Puerto Vallarta since he retired four years ago. He’s been traveling there since 2006, he said, and he’s never seen anything like the unrest he saw Sunday.
“The culture here is just awesome,” Bailey told KETV. “People are great. So I feel for them more than anything.”
After seeing smoke in the air Sunday, Bailey saw torched businesses on Monday.
He planned to return in April, but said he’s assessing over the next 48 hours to see if he should return earlier.
He said he wonders if the Mexican government’s killing of the cartel leader might “create a vacuum and open it to other people trying to come in and take over.”
Omaha travel advisor Robert Lopez, the owner of Freedom Travel, suggests when Americans travel outside the U.S., they should enroll in STEP with the State Department so they receive notification of safety advisory changes and so the U.S. would know where they are if something happens.
The U.S. State Department says the airports in Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara are experiencing disruptions because of road blockages. The government advises Americans in several cities to shelter in place:
- Jalisco State (including Puerto Vallarta, Chapala, and Guadalajara)
- Baja California State (including Tijuana, Tecate, and Ensenada)
- Nayarit State (including the Nuevo Nayarit/Nuevo Vallarta area near Puerta Vallarta)
- Areas of Colima, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Estado de México, Michoacán, Nuevo León, Oaxaca, Puebla, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Veracruz, and Zacatecas states
Updates are available here.
