FORT LAUDERDALE-HOLLYWOOD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, FLA. (WSVN) - From the sky to the sea, all forms of transportation entering or leaving the Sunshine State are feeling the effects of Hurricane Helene as it upgrades to a category two hurricane and aims for Florida.
Passengers at South Florida’s major airports are dealing with travel troubles Thursday morning.
According to Flight Aware, over 15,00 flights have been delayed and that number rises by the hour.
Flights most affected at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport are in and out of Tallahassee, Tampa, and Fort Myers. FLL currently has 15 delays and 53 cancellations.
7News spoke with one traveler trying to beat the storm and make his way to Houston.
“I wasn’t aware. I’m not from here,” he said. “It’s only like my third day out here so, I didn’t know it was a storm, but I seen the winds blowing and I had the door open and it shut the door so hard I thought it was somebody was coming in the house.” “So I was like, ‘I know it’s wind and it’s anticipated a lot of wind’. So I don’t know if the flight is going to be delayed or not, so I just gave it a shot and ran out the door and came to the airport.”
Another passenger said her Spirit flight was cancelled.
“So I walked from Terminal 4 to here, I’m 75, and I need to re-book one-way to go to North Carolina,” said Susan Levy.
Susan said she is trying to get to North Carolina so she could see her grandson because she is going to be babysitting him for a couple of days. Despite her travel woes, Susan decided to stay positive and look on the bright side.
“Even though it rained, the woman who drove said ‘Don’t worry about it. We’ll get to the airport and it will stop’ We got to the airport and it stopped,” Susan said. “It is what is is. I woke up this morning. I feel great. I feel wonderful. I’m still going to go today. I’m still going to be with my grandson. It’s still all good.”
She was re-booked on a Delta flight that is set to leave at 3 p.m. on Thursday.
According to officials, Miami International Airport currently has 26 arrivals and 23 departures canceled. Cities across Florida, Mexico, the Caribbean, and the East Coast are most affected.
Cruise ships are sailing troubled waters, with a number of ships unable to return to port due to the very high winds, because of this, all passengers scheduled to travel Thursday or Friday are advised to confirm their departure with their cruise line.
On Wednesday, both Tallahassee and Tampa airports announced their closure for the time being.
Travelers should confirm their flight status before arriving at the airport in case further arrangements need to be made and make sure they have text message alerts on their phones.
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