After fleeing the Fort McMurray fire back in May 2016, an Alberta woman was forced to face impending disaster once again.
Christine Drul said she was two days into a solo Florida vacation, when Hurricane Irma started to take a drastic turn.
“There was no word of this before I left for my trip,” said Drul. “Then two days in it was kind of a concern. So I called to see if I could move my flight up, turns out there was not flights at all out of Florida. That’s when I knew it was getting pretty serious.”
Drul, who lives in Fort McMurray, was desperate to escape Irma’s path. She rented a car and drove to Atlanta to catch a flight.
Drul said compared to her drive out of Fort McMurray, the trip to safety was more difficult.
With the Florida evacuation window closing, the streets were packed.
“The drive should take about nine hours, it took me at least 15,” said Drul. “It was bumper-to-bumper the entire way. Gas stations were running out of gas. The only way to get out now is to drive.”
She arrived in Atlanta just in time, and was able to board a flight to Seattle, then one to Edmonton.
“I was looking forward to this vacation, it’s been a tough year,” Drul said. “The fire, job loss. I was looking forward to the vacation and I ended up fleeing from a Category 5 Hurricane.”
Regardless of her harrowing journey, she hopes to return to Florida.
“I’d love to go back, but they will be in recovery probably for quite a while.”
Drul arrived in Edmonton Thursday evening.