One of Florida’s prominent airports is set to suspend flights Tuesday as Hurricane Ian heads toward the state, expected to become a dangerous Category 4 hurricane after making landfall Tuesday morning in western Cuba. A number of airlines around the country are also preparing for flight cancellations and changes.
Tampa International Airport announced it would suspend all operations beginning at 5 p.m. ET Tuesday due the hurricane. Travelers are advised to contact their airline for information.
At the same time, American Airlines reduced fares for flights out of 20 airports in the region that may be impacted by the storm. The airline is also waving fees for checked baggage and carry-on pets to help those in the area to evacuate.
A number of other airlines have warned of potential travel impacts due to the storm:
Delta:
Delta is offering travel waivers for flights through Sept. 30.
“Due to the severe weather threat from Tropical Storm Ian to destinations in Florida, Delta has issued a travel waiver for those who may be impacted – effective Sept. 25-30, 2022,” the airline said.
Travelers were urged to check their flight status. For a list of impacted locations click here.
Southwest Airlines:
Southwest revealed that flights may be delayed or canceled due to the storm for several destinations. See a full list of locations here.
“Customers holding reservations to/from/through the cities listed above on the corresponding dates may rebook in the original class of service or travel standby (within 14 days of their original date of travel between the original city-pairs and in accordance with our accommodation procedures) without paying any additional charge,” the airline stated.
Spirit:
Spirit Airlines is waiving travel modification plans through Oct. 3 for anyone set to travel to Fort Myers, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Orlando or Tampa between Sept. 27-30.
United Airlines:
United Airlines is offering travel waivers for anyone with flights from Sept. 23-30. Travelers have until Oct. 8 to rebook. The following airports are included:
- Ft. Lauderdale, FL (FLL)
- Ft. Myers, FL (RSW)
- Jacksonville, FL (JAX)
- Key West, FL (EYW)
- Miami, FL (MIA)
- Orlando, FL (MCO)
- Panama City, FL (ECP)
- Pensacola, FL (PNS)
- Sarasota, FL (SRQ)
- Tampa, FL (TPA)
- West Palm Beach, FL (PBI)
Evacuations were underway along Florida’s Gulf Coast Tuesday.
Ian’s maximum sustained winds increased to 125 mph as it moved north-northwest at 12 mph, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said early Tuesday morning.
The Category 3 storm made landfall around 4:30 a.m. southwest of the town of La Coloma in the Pinar Del Rio province of Cuba. Ian is forecast to reach its peak intensity as a Category 4 hurricane over the warm Gulf of Mexico waters, with top winds of 140 mph when it makes landfall in Florida on Wednesday.
The hurricane center said Ian will slow down over the Gulf of Mexico, growing wider and stronger, “which will have the potential to produce significant wind and storm surge impacts along the west coast of Florida.”
“Obviously at this point, we want everyone to be safe, you have a significant storm that may end up being a Category 4 hurricane,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a news conference Monday.
A surge of up to 10 feet of ocean water and 10 inches of rain was predicted across the Tampa Bay area, enough water to inundate coastal communities.
On the forecast track, Ian will move over western Cuba early Tuesday and emerge over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico. Ian is then expected to move on a path to the Gulf Coast of Florida, with the center staying to the west of the Florida Keys, according to the latest advisory.
As of early Tuesday, Tampa and St. Petersburg appeared to be the among the most likely targets for their first direct hit by a major hurricane since 1921.
Florida Power & Light was preparing more than 13,000 workers to assist with their response to Hurricane Ian, company officials said Monday.
The power company said they were pre-positioning workers and supplies to respond to any outages from the hurricane, which was forecast to possibly make landfall along Florida’s west coast later this week.
The threat of torrential rainfall over the next few days from Hurricane Ian has Miami residents on guard, knowing that even a typical thunderstorm can cause flooding.
The problem is expected to be compounded by a king tide this week.
DeSantis activated the state’s National Guard on Sunday ahead of the storm’s expected impact later in the week.
“It’s important to point out to folks that the path of this is still uncertain. The impacts will be broad throughout the state of Florida,” DeSantis said at a news conference Sunday. “So from the Tampa Bay area all the way up to Escambia County along Florida’s Gulf Coast you could potentially see it make landfall in any of those places as of right now.”
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