Canadian travellers are being warned to get away from the path of Hurricane Irma.

Airlines have launched evacuation operations for thousands of travellers in the Dominican Republic and in Turks and Caicos -- though some travellers say they're being left behind.

Punta Cana airport was bustling Wednesday , where about 1,000 people waited in three lines for Air Transat flights to Montreal, Quebec City, and Toronto.

Three Montreal-bound flights arrived at 4:30 p.m., with more flights scheduled to arrive throughout the evening from Air Transat and other airlines.

“The hurricane policy seems pretty clear, that they will reimburse all of the unused bookings at the hotel. I understand that the round-trip airfare is not reimbursed,” said Aaron Green, an Air Transat traveller waiting at the airport.

Air Transat sent 10 aircraft to the Caribbean nation -- seven to Punta Cana, two to Puerto Plata and one to Samana. All are expected to return by day’s end.

“There is a question about whether it was going to be a tropical storm here in Punta Cana or if it would be the full force of the hurricane, so I think it was a good idea to wait until now. I understand that the hurricane-like weather is supposed to start Wednesday night, so effectively this evening, and the worst of it is supposed to be Thursday at 2 in the morning all the way until 2 p.m.,” he said.

“Better safe than sorry, I’m happy to be leaving now.”

Meantime, WestJet also is sending five planes to those locations and to Turks and Caicos.

One customer at a resort in Turks and Caicos told CTV Montreal he is trying to get a flight with Air Canada, but he says nothing is being done for him and his wife.

Air Canada said it had contacted every passenger in the area for whom it had contact information.

Sunwing sent multiple flights to Caribbean islands before the storm hit, and has cancelled flights on Sept. 7, 8 and 9 for islands in the path of the hurricane.

Other travellers said they were happy to be home.

"At first when we came, they said it was a small storm," said one woman. "But after that, when they said it was category four and five, after that we were terrified. We just wanted to come back here."

Another tourist said the skies were calm Wednesday morning, but the storm was having an effect on the sea.

"When we left this morning the sun was shining, the birds were singing, the air was super-humid, and we could see the water starting to really, kind of pulse."

Irma, considered the most powerful Atlantic Ocean hurricane in recorded history, bore down on the Dutch side of Saint Maarten on, then followed a path predicted to rake Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba before possibly heading for Florida.

At least two people died on the French side of St. Martin and in St. Barts, which French president Emmanuel Macron said was "hard... and cruel."

The strongest buildings in St. Martin were destroyed by the storm, which French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb was terrible news.

"In terms of material damage, the four strongest buildings on the island of St. Martin have been destroyed, which means that the oldest buildings have undoubtedly been totally or partially destroyed," he said.

The island of St. Martin/St. Maarten lost power at 6 a.m. Wednesday.

In Puerto Rico, residents and officials braced for the worst as the airport closed and 500 emergency shelters were opened. U.S. President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency for the island territory and for Florida.

Irma is likely to hit Turks and Caicos on Thursday, and the Bahamas on Friday, and veer towards Florida after that.

Florida governor Rick Scott warned residents to get out if at all possible, and ordered a mandatory evacuation for the Florida Keys.

"I cannot stress this enough: get prepared. Know your evacuation plan. Listen to local officials. This storm has the potential to devastate our state, and you have to take this seriously," said Scott.

He added the storm would be worse than Hurricane Andrew, which hit Florida 25 years ago and caused $25 billion in damage.