That's bad luck man.
I had an experience with an Argentinian airline were we missed our return flight due to a landslide across the highway and they wouldn't allow us book for the next day unless we paid triple the price of the full flight over to Argentina in the first place.
It's such a horrible feeling when you know that you're never going to win the argument and you're just going to get fucking screwed over.
Good tip about the return flight booking. Safe travels my friend.