Canadian tourists trapped in Hurricane Irma's path scramble to get out or hunker down

Canadian tourists in the path of Hurricane Irma, the worst Atlantic Ocean hurricane in recorded history, are desperately trying to secure last-minute flights or face the prospect of weathering the historic storm as it moves through the Caribbean.

Around 2 a.m. ET today, the eye of Hurricane Irma passed over the twin-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda, bringing heavy winds and rain, sending debris flying and knocking out power.

The Category 5 hurricane is expected to carve a path along the northern Caribbean, hitting the nations of Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba before possibly reaching Florida over the weekend.

Global Affairs Canada has updated travel advisories, recommending against travel to destinations in the hurricane's path.

But for tourists currently in the Caribbean, nerves are fraying.

Mark Crowther, an RCMP staff sergeant based in Iqaluit, is in the middle of a two-week vacation with his wife in the resort of Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.

"Up until yesterday, things were fairly normal, but today is a different story," he said. "You can see the atmosphere is changing. The resort is taping windows with duct tape."

Flights home tough find

Canadian airlines have been sending planes to the Dominican Republic as well as Turks and Caicos to bring people back to Canada ahead of the storm — but passengers have struggled to get seats.

Taylor Spence, a bridesmaid for a destination wedding in Punta Cana, said her party was finally able to secure an Air Canada flight by 1 p.m. ET today.

"We had been reaching out to [Air Canada] since yesterday and all morning," she said. "By noon we had lost hope. We couldn't believe when they told us we were finally being evacuated."

She said the wedding party of 33 people — including a number of small children — would be flying back to Toronto Wednesday afternoon.

Amanda Mooney, of Ottawa, was also lucky. Her brother and his fiancée — stuck in Turks and Caicos — were able to get a last-minute flight.

Mooney said she spent hours calling every single airline leaving the island from Canada, while her brother and his fiancée went desk to desk at the airport trying to secure a route back.

"We hadn't slept all night. We have been calling from yesterday afternoon," she said. "It's been really frustrating and scary."

Air Canada spokesperson Angela Mah said the airline is sending 24 extra flights over three days to Florida and the Caribbean. That includes some larger-than-normal aircraft for those routes, such as the 450-seat Boeing 777 that touched down today in Punta Cana, an airport normally served by 282-seat Boeing 767s.

"We sent seven extra aircraft to [the Dominican Republic] alone today, and we have other flights to other affected areas both today and tomorrow. We are evaluating and adding extra flights and capacity so it is a rolling total for the number of flights," Mah wrote in an email. 

The airline has said it is "monitoring the situation closely" and assisting customers by "proactively contacting them on location to inform them on increased capacity and additional flights."

Meanwhile, Sunwing is sending 12 unscheduled flights to areas in Irma's path. A press release from the airline says local representatives are in "regular contact" with travellers to help them change their flight plans.

Others — like Crowther — have not had the same luck.

Yesterday, WestJet spokesperson Robert Palmer said "the number of aircraft matches the number of guests we have in those destinations at the moment."

But Crowther said he spent hours on the phone desperate to get on a WestJet flight home with little success.

"Here's a WestJet customer that can't get on a plane," he said.

Today, WestJet told CBC News the situation had evolved, saying it did have a number of planes operating as rescue flights and had added extra flights to Santa Clara and Cayo Coco in Cuba, but it advised guests to follow the instructions of local authorities and hotels implementing hurricane preparedness plans.

Hunkering down

Bracing for the storm is what many have decided to do.

A group of Albertans studying in Puerto Rico are staying put in their dorm after being unable to secure any departing flights back home. They've stocked up on water and non-perishable foods and are monitoring whatever news they can find.

Crowther is also riding out the storm.

"It's coming right at you, and it makes you feel a little uneasy," Crowther said. "But we're not ones to panic here. We're going to hunker down, and it looks like we're going to have to ride this one out."

And in this calm before the storm, he said some are trying to make the best of a grim situation.

"The weather right now is beautiful …. There's still people out there tanning."