A woman makes her way among hundreds of sleeping tourists at a shelter in downtown Cancun, Mexico early Monday morning. Hurricane Emily hit the coast of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, causing widespread damage. No deaths or injuries have been reported.

Travel agencies scrambled to get Lawrence residents out of Mexico over the weekend before Hurricane Emily hit the Yucatan Peninsula.

“They called on Friday and screamed to come home,” said Joan Myers, a travel consultant with Carlson Wagonlit Travel/Sunflower Travel Service. “Everybody’s home safe and sound.”

The worst damage on the Yucatan Peninsula was in Puerto Aventuras, where the storm’s eye came ashore some 60 miles south of the tourist resort of Cancun and in Tulum, a collection of thatched hut hotels along a secluded strip of beach that is popular with backpackers.

The storm also wreaked havoc with vacation schedules.

“We did have a (Lawrence) couple that was going to Mexico this week,” said Kim Mathewson, a spokeswoman for AAA Travel. “They’ve changed their destination to another tropical destination.”

Myers said 10 of her agency’s clients were in Mexico when the storm warnings were issued.

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• Hurricane Emily pounds Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula (07-18-05)

“They called on Friday – they were scheduled to come back on Monday, but they came back Saturday,” Myers said.

Beverly Falley, owner of Lawrence Travel Center, said she was waiting to hear from three clients who were traveling when the hurricane hit Mexico.

“It’s not typical, but it is hurricane season,” Falley said. “It seems every year, we have some re-bookings or people who have come home early – it’s happened the last few years.”