Quebecers who were enjoying vacations in Cayo Largo, Cuba, were urgently repatriated Tuesday afternoon to Montreal, a few hours before the tropical storm Rafael hits the island which is on alert.
After a major power outage that paralyzed the country a few weeks ago, Cuba is now facing the storm Rafael which is expected to transform into a hurricane and reach the Cayo Largo area on Wednesday.
Faced with this threat, an emergency repatriation flight has been organized for customers of the Sunwing Vacations group who will take a flight at 1:20 p.m. local time to return to Montreal.
“Once guests have been evacuated, all hotels on the island will be closed for a period of 48 hours as a precaution,” Victoria Bakos, director of public relations and communications at Sunwing Vacation Group, said by email.
A Quebec couple on site noticed that preparations were underway to face the storm.
“It’s sure that it’s a bit of chaos here, they’re hiding the chairs, they’re removing the curtains in the rooms, it’s big preparations, they’ve removed all the boats from the marina,” said Sylvain Lamarche.
“I can tell you that the island will be completely emptied, [il n’y aura] no one left this evening,” said his partner, Liliana Biondo.
Other airlines have also confirmed that they are on alert and monitoring the situation in Cuba.
As for Transat, “only flights TS814 and TS815 (Montreal-Varadero round trip) on November 6 could be affected,” indicated Bernard Côté, Transat spokesperson.
“We are closely monitoring the development of the tropical storm and will make a decision late afternoon today to ensure the safety and comfort of our passengers,” he added.
For its part, Air Canada intends to adapt its flight schedule according to the evolution of the storm.
“For the moment, our Toronto-Santa Clara flight is assured [mardi]. No service is planned for [mercredi]. Our only flight to Cuba on Thursday, Montreal-Varadero, is still scheduled as long as the facilities are available on the ground,” mentioned Christophe Hennebelle, Vice-President Communications of Air Canada.
– With information from Andy St-André, TVA Nouvelles
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