CINCINNATI — Charlie, Laura and 5-year-old Navia Moorman were stranded in Jamaica for more than a week after Hurricane Melissa ravaged the island, leaving many roads blocked and the country's two airports damaged.
They've made it back to their Westwood home after one final curveball they never could have seen coming.
The family learned while flying back into the United States through Atlanta on Tuesday afternoon that their connecting flight in Louisville wouldn't be possible. Laura said she was watching election coverage when news of a UPS cargo plane crashing at Louisville's Muhammad Ali International Airport flashed across her screen.
"First thing I checked was where the actual crash happened on Google Maps to see if our car was affected because it said, really, near the airport," Charlie said.
WATCH: We talk with the Moorman family after they navigate a historic hurricane and plane crash to return home
The Moorman family was left in limbo in Atlanta as they tried to find an alternate route to get home.
Charlie said eventually, Delta representatives were able to route them a flight directly into Cincinnati on Tuesday night, but they had to spend most of Wednesday driving to Louisville and back to recover the car they'd left there more than a week earlier.
"It was a wonderful moment to know that our car was ok, that it could be driven, that this final chapter was over. We can go home. We can be done with this trip," Laura said.
When we talked with the family late Wednesday, they hadn't even had a chance to unpack their luggage. Charlie told us they haven't had time to process it all.
Laura said it was difficult to be a confident parent to a 5-year-old girl while being near so much catastrophe.
"Just knowing how much harm was actually done both in Montego Bay and, when we got back home in Louisville, that was very overwhelming," Laura said.
The hope, they said, was to return to some sense of normalcy in the coming days.
"Tomorrow, we can actually start unpacking our bags. We can take (Navia) to her tap dance class in the afternoon," Charlie said.
