For better or worse, come hell or high water: Hurricane Harvey puts a damper on wedding plans
London, Ont. wedding on hold while tropical storm keeps bride and groom grounded in Houston
If rain on your wedding day is supposed to be good luck, then Christine Beamish and Max Seferovic might be the luckiest couple on earth.
The couple—both postdoctoral medical fellows—is supposed to be in London for their wedding on Friday.
Instead, the two are stuck in Houston, Texas, as Hurricane Harvey has grounded flights out until further notice. Both are graduates of Western University, and met while in school in London.
Trek to the airport
The couple is currently holed up in an airport hotel, waiting for the airport to reopen. And even getting to that point was a challenge, said Beamish.
What's normally a 20-minute drive from their home to the airport instead took two hours, driving through partially submerged roads, she said.
Seferovic added that it's been hard to convey just how bad the floods are to friends and family out of town.
"They say, 'Oh just take a cab, take an Uber, take an Uber SUV.' They don't really appreciate how severe the flooding can be and how impassable the roads can become," he said.
'It's really disappointing'
Beamish and Seferovic have been together for 12 years, and say they've been planning their wedding for about 10 months. The couple has family that have travelled from Norway and Australia to be at their London wedding, and have now arrived in town before the bride and groom.
"We're disappointed for ourselves, but also really feeling bad that we've obliged all these people all these things and now we can't even be there. It's really disappointing," said Beamish.
Still, Beamish said the airport is scheduled to reopen Thursday, and that she's hopeful the two will find a flight that will get them into town on time.
"As long as we can get on a flight, we can get home. I don't care if my hair is done," she said.
Both said it's difficult to feel sorry for themselves while they see the destruction the hurricane has caused all over Texas, and especially in Houston, where they've lived for two years.
"It's hard to be too navel gazing when you see the devastation around you. Our house is fine, we are fine, we are safe. Hopefully at one point this will be a good wedding story," Beamish said.
There are others stuck at the airport, waiting for flights out, Seferovic said.