Quebecers in Florida brace for Hurricane Matthew
Fatal storm leads to flight cancellations, delays to and from Montreal
Quebecers in Florida are preparing for possible devastation as Hurricane Matthew approaches the coast.
The hurricane's death toll across the Caribbean is in the hundreds, with Haiti being the worst hit.
As the storm starts to wallop the United States, Florida Governor Rick Scott said the damage could be catastrophic.
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Louis St-Laurent, a Quebecer living in Coral Springs, said he's staying put and bracing for the storm.
St-Laurent, the owner and publisher of the French-language Le Soleil de la Floride newspaper, said people are stocking up on necessities and boarding up windows.
No one is ready for Category 4.- Louis St-Laurent, who lives in Coral Springs, Fla.
"The people here are sort of in a panic mode," St-Laurent told CBC Montreal's Daybreak.
St-Laurent said the projections of the hurricane are so unclear that it is hard to tell what will happen.
"We're ready, as ready as we can be, but no one is ready for Category 4."
Taryn Kolodny, a Montrealer who had been vacationing with friends in Pompano Beach, said she opted to head to a friend's house in Hollywood, Fla., 30 kilometres south.
"We decided for safety, it was probably best to go," she told CBC Montreal's Debra Arbec.
Kolodny said she is scared, but she's hoping it will turn into a smaller storm than expected.
"Everybody seems to be battening down the hatches."
Flights cancelled
Flights to and from Montreal from destinations in Florida are already being cancelled.
American Airlines has cancelled its Thursday evening flight from Miami to Montreal, as well as Friday morning's Montreal to Miami flight, and Air Canada announced it will not fly to Orlando.
Air Transat has asked travellers flying from Montreal to Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, to arrive well in advance. The airline has also issued its hurricane policy for flights to Florida, which allows passengers to change dates or destinations or receive a credit for their flight.
With files from Debra Arbec and CBC Montreal's Daybreak