The wildfires currently raging in Hawaii are having repercussions as far away as Montreal, where young globetrotters were canceled on arrival at the airport.
• Also read: At least 36 dead and thousands evacuated in Hawaii
“We had been planning our trip for a few months,” explained Carolanne Boileau on a podcast episode ofAlexandre Moranville Ouelletabove QUB radio.
She and her group of friends were just finishing packing on Wednesday night when they got wind of what was happening in this corner of the United States.
“We started reading the news about Maui on fire on the Internet,” Ms. Boileau said.
- Listen to the interview with Carolanne Boileau, Traveler bound for Hawaii via the audio and video platform QUB radio :
Their first plane departed from Montreal for Vancouver, British Columbia. The second flight the travelers were scheduled to take took them straight to Maui, which is ablaze from wildfires.
“We were a little bit panicked and didn’t really know what to do,” she said.
The group spent the night catching Air Canada, the airline they did business with on their trip. But their efforts were in vain.
Not yet knowing if the quartet would be able to leave for Maui Thursday morning, the group of friends drove to Montreal-Trudeau Airport around 5 a.m. After a phone call to Air Canada agents, they received confirmation that they would have to stay on the ground.
Screenshot from Carolanne Boileau’s Instagram story
“We got a refund, so we’re still lucky with our bad luck,” Ms Boileau said.
She also feels fortunate to be safe in Montreal while others are going through real disaster.