Hurricane Beryl mobilised Cayman Airways team into action

As many hunkered down with loved ones bracing for Hurricane Beryl last week, Cayman Airways staffers like Garth Ebanks had to watch from afar and pray for the best for his family and friends on island.

“It was very, very tough,” Ebanks said Monday in a telephone interview recounting his experience, which became emotional at times.

Ebanks, a reservations supervisor, was one of several Cayman Airways team members that departed the island on last Wednesday’s evacuation flights to ensure Cayman Airways service continued before the storm hit.

“It was kind of nerve-racking, but I had a job to do, so I was mostly focused on that. Whenever I did get a chance, I would call home to make sure everyone was fine and let them know I was fine as well,” he said.

Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan, speaking at last week’s post-Beryl press conference, said the national airline did over 24 evacuation flights last week and offered 3,765 additional seats to individuals seeking to evacuate over the two-day period leading up to Beryl’s arrival.

He lauded the advantage the island had by having access to a national airline.

No ordinary day

The Cayman Airways reservation center had a record number of calls from tourists and residents seeking to leave the island at the time.

Ebanks said what he and his team faced ahead of Hurricane Beryl was a first-time experience with the sheer volume of calls from frantic tourists and residents running into the thousands.

“In one day we had up to 55 calls waiting to get answered. It was a very, very hectic day, but the team pulled together and we made it work,” he said, adding that in his 16 years of service, he had never seen such a scenario.

Cayman Airways customer service agent Aleta Brown said it was a bit chaotic at times in the reservations department as the team tried to juggle the high volume of calls.

“I tried to help as much as I can. I worked on my days off; I stayed overtime just to assist the people. People were just calling to leave. They didn’t know where to go; they just wanted to leave,” she said.

Ebanks said when the forecast path of Beryl was becoming clearer, the calls started building at the reservation desk.

“The craziness started from the Monday. We had to call in all of our off-duty staff. They didn’t have to come out, but they did. We offered overtime to everyone who came and everyone really pulled through to make it work. We have a good team,” he said.

Calls kept coming

Ebanks, who experienced Hurricane Ivan 20 years ago, said at the time he felt like Beryl was not “a big deal”.

“We’ve been through hurricanes before. It’s something that’s natural and we have to deal with it when it comes,” he said.

When he saw the scale of the damage the storm caused in other islands, however, he became very concerned.

Though Ebanks was duty bound when he was asked to go to Miami to work remotely, he said leaving his family behind with a hurricane charging towards the islands was difficult.

“It was very, very tough. I literally cried for about two hours before I left. I came into work and I [told the team] I need to go back home for a little bit to spend a little more time with my family,” Ebanks said.

He said he is raising his nephew as his own and leaving him at home was “the hardest thing to do”.

Anxious moments

Brown, like many of her co-workers, worked non-stop to get people out ahead of the storm.

She said she did not even get a chance to get her own family storm ready, as she was set up to work remotely at her West Bay home leading up to the storm.

“I didn’t get to shop. I didn’t get to go to a supermarket. I had to ask my mom to pick up stuff. I just gave her the cash and she did all of the preparations while I was on the phone trying to assist the passengers,” she said.

Brown said one of the challenges she encountered was being able find seats because as fast as they came up, they were gone.

She said as soon as she logged off at 10pm Wednesday night, her focus shifted to the storm and her eight-year-old daughter who was curled up with her to ride out the storm.

After fielding near 95 calls in a day, Brown said she was so tired that she slept through most of the storm.

Both Ebanks and Brown said looking back, they were very proud of the Cayman Airways team and their ability to keep calm through the chaos.

“This is the first time that we had set-up overseas and I was glad to be a part of that,” Ebanks added.

Emotions ran high at ORIA

Cayman Airways gate agents at the airport faced the brunt of panic from passengers who, after securing seats, packed into the Owen Roberts International Airport to evacuate.

Jaison Whittaker, Cayman Airways station manager in Grand Cayman, said, counter agents used more than 50% of the counters at the airport to help passengers check-in.

He said it was very emotional for many because a number of families had to leave relatives behind because space had run out.

He said in 31 years at Cayman Airways, last week was one of his proudest moments as he witnessed his team pull together and go all out to keep hundreds of visibly distressed passengers calm.

“Hurricane Beryl was definitely one that took most people by surprise by how quickly it intensified and how long it lasted,” he said, adding that the airline was prepared despite the nature of the storm and activated its hurricane plan in advance.

Whittaker said he saw passengers break down in tears when they could not get out, but his team tried its best to help and rebook where they could.

There were a lot of hugs and high fives, he said, as passengers departed from their gates.

“They also wished us well as they left and said they would pray for us,” he added.

Whittaker said he was equally pleased by the quick turn around to get flights off the island.

The final flight, he said, came in at 6pm Wednesday just as the airport closed, and within 30 minutes, all passengers were on board and the flight left for Miami.

He urged Caymanians to ensure they have updated passports and waivers to travel.

He said he had a number of Caymanians trying to travel on passports with less than six months left before expiration. This, he said, is not allowed and he had to turn people away.

Last flight out

On that final flight was Darren McLaughlin, the spouse of Cayman Airways senior cabin crew member Collette Tamasa-McLaughlin.

She said she was grateful he was able to get on a flight, but she said she was sad that she had to leave most of her relatives, including her son and parents behind.

Tamasa-McLaughlin was one of several crew members called out to assist with evacuation flights.

She said last Tuesday, shortly after landing in Grand Cayman following a brief holiday trip in Miami, she was asked to help with the flights.

“I did not hesitate,” she said, adding that whenever there are evacuation flights or opportunities to volunteer, she would step up.

She said she knew she would not have time to prepare her home for the storm, but she knew she had to help get people off island.

Tamasa-McLaughlin said her family helped her get storm ready and she left on Wednesday on the first of her two evacuation flights.

She said the mood was tense and passengers were quite emotional.

“One passenger asked for white wine to calm her down as soon as she sat down, but I had to tell her we could not serve alcohol while still on the ground,” she said.

Tamasa-McLaughlin said she felt the same nervousness as her passengers, but she could not show it.

“No matter what you are feeling, when you put on that uniform it is like you are a different person. I am there for [passengers’] safety; I am there to encourage them, answer their questions. I could not really focus on what was happening with me,” she said.

At that the time, she said there was a lot of uncertainty about how close Beryl would come to the island and what strength it would be.

She left on the second to last evacuation flight and her husband arrived on the final flight.

She said they rode out the storm huddled together watching weather updates.

Tamasa-McLaughlin said she was grateful to CUC and the internet providers in Cayman because she was able to see what was happening back home and keep in regular contact.

Her crew was on the first return flight from Miami at 6:55pm on Thursday.

She said there was a great feeling of relief when she opened the cabin door and saw her home country was still standing.

“To unlock that door, and see Cayman in this way … I just could not believe it. I was like, ‘thank you God’. We were all so happy. The staff, the crew members, the passengers were happy. Even the ground crew was happy … It was a good feeling,” Tamasa-McLaughlin said.