Days after a hurricane forced the cancellation of all commercial flights out of the international airport in Los Cabos, Mexico, some of the first Canadians to return home have landed in Vancouver.
Tourists and locals left behind have been operating in survival mode, local officials said. Electricity and water service are still out, and looters have stripped some supermarkets of food and other goods.
The storm also hit many popular businesses and resorts, prompting many tourists to try and get out of the area.
Sunwing Airlines says a flight carrying 185 adults and five infants arrived at Vancouver International Airport shortly before 7:30 p.m. PT.
Most of those on the flight had booked their trips on Sunwing, but 35 of them had booked with other airlines, a spokesperson said.
A second Sunwing flight will bring more people home through Toronto's Pearson International Airport.
That plane is expected to depart Cabo San Lucas airport 'at full capacity' this evening, Sunwing said in a statement released Wednesday afternoon.
Mexico's government earlier had thousands of stranded foreign tourists airlifted out of the hurricane-ravaged vacation destination, sending them on military and commercial planes to airports in Tijuana, Mazatlan, Guadalajara and Mexico City.
President Enrique Pena Nieto's office said the federal government was working closely with state authorities on relief efforts in the areas battered by Odile, including restoring water and electricity.
The remnants of Odile, which has been downgraded from a Category 3 hurricane to a tropical storm, are expected to reach Arizona Wednesday evening.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said parts of Arizona and New Mexico could get 15 to 23 centimetres of rain and warned of possible flash flooding. The Tucson area was forecast to bear the brunt of the storm, but Phoenix could be lashed with rain and heavy winds, too.
To the south, a new tropical storm was nearing hurricane strength off Mexico's Pacific coast and heading in the general direction of Los Cabos, although early predictions were for its centre to remain offshore.
With files from bberitaa.blogspot.com
Posted by Unknown on Wednesday, September 17, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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