Riding out Hurricane Irma was not one of the rides that Burns Lake residents Bonnie and Kelly Heagy signed up for when spent their holidays at the Walt Disney World Resort.
But that’s exactly what happened.
As the couple was preparing for their 10-day trip to Orlando, they heard about the massive hurricane on the news, but that didn’t affect their plans. With this being their third time in Florida, the couple was well aware that hurricanes are always a possibility in the Sunshine State.
“Before we left we knew that there could be a possibility,” said Bonnie. “We heard of a hurricane that was out in the ocean, but nobody knew where it was heading at that point.”
Within the first five days of their trip, they heard that Irma was expected to make landfall in Florida as a category five hurricane. However, with no evacuation orders in their area, the couple felt that it would safer to ride out the storm in their hotel room at Disney instead of leaving.
“We were thinking that we were better off where we were,” said Bonnie. “A lot of people did leave [the Disney resort] early; the parking lot where we were was completely full [when we got there], and then it was half empty.”
“But we saw people coming into the resort [to find shelter] and we figured that we were safe,” she added.
Although Irma weakened in its journey across Florida, it still hit Orlando with hurricane-force winds.
The couple stayed in their hotel room all night on Sept. 10 as the storm struck the resort. Bonnie said the noise of the howling winds battering against the door sounded as if someone was trying to break into their room. Despite the sheer force of the winds, Bonnie said they were both “giggling.”
“We were laughing because we expected the worst,” she said. “But I think we were more scared watching the news; Americans make everything more dramatic.”
“Our greatest fear as Canadians is that the power would go out, and with all the heat and humidity, that we would not have air conditioning,” she added jokingly.
As the powerful storm began to fade, Bonnie said they could see families with small children walking outside even before the resort staff told them it was safe to go outside.
She said the Disney staff were “awesome.”
“They had volunteer staff that stayed in the lobby to answer the phone and check with people,” she said.
Although the Disney parks were minimally impacted, Bonnie said the next day she saw many debris, trees that had been ripped from the ground, and city crews beginning to clean up the city.
The couple was still able to enjoy their time in Orlando after the storm. The Disney parks were closed Sept. 10 and 11, but reopened the following day.
Despite riding out a hurricane, Bonnie said they didn’t regret going to Florida.
“You can’t predict everything; we lost a couple of days, but it wasn’t a big deal.”
