Ysleta High School Cheerleaders Return After Tsunami Scare

Awaiting the arrival of U.S. Airways flight 2727 at El Paso International Airport Wednesday, Alicia Cortez told ABC-7 it was a nerve-wracking weekend.

Her daughter and the rest of the Ysleta High School cheerleading squad were halfway between El Paso and the devastation in Japan, taking part in a competition in Honolulu, Hawaii.

They were also in the path of the tsunami.

“I kept wondering, ‘What’s going to happen if they have to evacuate the hotel?'” Cortez said.

Ysleta cheerleader Samantha Morales said there was worry on their end, too.

“We were watching the earthquake in Japan,” she said. “We were all like, ‘Oh my God, I hope that’s not us.'”

Hawaii was spared a major hit by the tsunami, so the squad was okay.

Morales told ABC-7 the teens used social media to keep in touch with each other while stuck in their hotel rooms and to keep in touch with their families.

“(We were) texting, tweeting,” she said. “Everything we could do to keep good communication.”

Don’t think the tsunami scare spooked the squad, though. The ‘Indians’ left Honolulu with a first place trophy.