Montrealers escape the Caribbean as Hurricane Irma bears down
Honeymooners among those to be flown out of the Dominican Republic today ahead of storm's arrival
With Hurricane Irma making landfall in the Caribbean and hurtling toward the Dominican Republic, airlines are trying to get Canadians out of the path of the storm.
The Category 5 storm had maximum sustained winds of 295 km/h when it reached the islands of the northeast Caribbean early Wednesday.
It's heading toward Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba before possibly reaching Florida over the weekend.
Montreal-based airline Air Transat is among the companies that sent planes to the Dominican Republic to get customers out of harm's way.
Newlywed Montrealer Elizabeth Baldwin is one of those customers. She booked a flight to a beachfront resort in Punta Cana late last week.
She and her husband Patrick Hanley have been there since Monday on their honeymoon, and they expect to be back home later today.
"It was a little more excitement that we bargained for," she said.
"[We've] never been so happy to be shortchanged on a vacation in our lives, I would say."
- Why even a record-breaking hurricane can't hit Category 6
- WestJet, Air Canada and Air Transat sending planes to get travellers out of Hurricane Irma's path
All was fine, until it wasn't
She and her husband left on an Air Transat flight Monday, which was by design, she explained.
"It looked like it would be OK. I mean we booked a matter of a couple of days before we were going to fly, so we figured, OK, it's safe to say that it would be fine."
She said she only started hearing about the threat of a storm after the flight was booked.
Baldwin called the airline back less than 24 hours after completing that booking to discuss cancelling. Air Transat wouldn't let her but said that if anything happened, the company would take care of them.
On Tuesday, she called the airline again to find out what their options were to get home, and she says they had no answers for her.
"We were chasing [the airline] and just received absolute crickets. Not a peep. We got a couple of platitudes, saying, 'It's OK, we're going to do something,' but there was no plan," she said.
Meanwhile, the hurricane getting was stronger. Hotel staff were acting calm and nonchalant, all the while "almost surreptitiously" preparing for the storm to hit, she said, which added to her concern.
They were also hearing Sunwing clients had already been evacuated from the country.
Early morning call
With no word from Air Transat, she and her husband booked return tickets on an Air Canada flight via Toronto.
The first Air Transat plane bound for the Dominican Republic left Trudeau airport around 7:10 a.m. Wednesday, roughly 40 minutes late.
Baldwin says they're now trying to cancel their back-up Air Canada flight. It's unclear which flight she will be on to return to Montreal, but the first one is slated to land around 4:15 p.m.
She said they are excited to get home.
"On Thursday, we'll decide if we ever want to leave the house again."
- 'May God protect us all': Hurricane Irma makes 1st landfall in Caribbean
- How climate change boosts extreme storms
Compensation options
CAA-Québec spokesperson Annie Gauthier said for those who booked vacations but haven't yet left, airline companies and tour operators will likely offer the option to change travel dates or their destination. Barring that, they should offer a reimbursement.
For those who are already on vacation, their airline or tour operator will try to bring them back before the storm hits. If that's impossible, their food and shelter should be paid for.
Policies tend to vary, so Gauthier said she advises travellers to check with the company directly to see what they offer.
While it can be a gamble to travel during hurricane season, it's not necessarily a bad idea, she said.
"If someone decides to travel during hurricane period, it doesn't mean there will be hurricanes."
With files from Navneet Pall, Jay Turnbull and CBC Montreal's Daybreak