For the latest information on Hurricane Beryl, visit Storm Centre.
Tourists and residents were frantically booking last-minute flights out of the Cayman Islands on Tuesday with the territory’s two international airports set to close Wednesday ahead of Hurricane Beryl.
Every scheduled flight out of the island was sold out by Tuesday morning.
Cayman Airways added additional evacuation flights, some of which were sold out almost as soon as they were announced. Meanwhile, hoteliers were working to ensure guests were safe or booked on to the rapidly diminishing number of exit flights.
Cayman Airways enlisted World Atlantic Airlines to help add seven additional flights to Miami, scheduled to depart at 6pm and 7pm Tuesday, and 7am, 7:30am, 9am, 10am and 12:10am on Wednesday, according to the airline.
Cayman Airways noted that flight times may change, and passengers should expect “some minor delays”. The airline also urged people to book online rather than rely on the call centre.
The Cayman Islands Airports Authority is planning to cease operations at Owen Roberts International Airport at 6pm on Wednesday, and the Charles Kirkconnell International Airport on Cayman Brac at 3pm the same day.
Compass travel columnist Fiona Brander noted that flights are being snapped up as soon as they are available.
“Availability literally disappears as you try to book,” she told the Compass.
Earlier on Tuesday, Brander posted that almost every seat on every flight out of the island was fully booked.
At the Grand Cayman Marriott Resort on Seven Mile Beach, general manager Hermes Cuello said guests were being advised to evacuate.
“We are encouraging guests to leave,” he said, “and helping them book flights through Cayman Airways, which has been very helpful.”
He said the hotel would accommodate those that were unable to leave but would not be operating as normal.
Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman general manager Marc Langevin said his team had been meeting with guests since Monday morning to update them on the storm, on resort’s preparations and information about flight availablity.
“While we were originally prepared for a full occupancy over 4th of July, many guests decided to cancel or to leave earlier, and we are now expected to be less than 30% occupancy by tomorrow,” he said.
He added, “While the guests have been advised about the modification and reduction of services available during the passage of the hurricane, our team is ready to take good care of the guests remaining in our resort.”
Troy Leacock, president of the Cayman Islands Tourism Association, said, “The idea is to get as many visitors off the island as possible.”
He said tour operators and hoteliers had been cancelling bookings and evacuating visitors for the past couple of days. He expects business to take a hit in the medium term as a result of the storm.
But he said the only priority right now was safety.
“The most important thing is to make sure all our visitors on island are safe and have access to good information throughout the storm and those that want to leave can do so.”
Leacock, who owns a water sports business, was among scores of operators securing their boats Tuesday as the storm inched closer to Cayman.
“Everybody with a truck or a trailer is busy right now pulling boats out of the water.
“Anybody that remembers Ivan is extremely cautious. We are keeping our fingers crossed.”
The Cayman Islands was placed under a Hurricane Warning as of 1pm Tuesday. Hurricane-force conditions are likely within the next 36 hours.
Additional reporting by James Whittaker.
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