MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, FLA. (WSVN) - Some travelers have been left stranded at the airport as the remaining flights out of Miami International Airport depart ahead of Irma.
“No luggage, no food, my daughter’s medication,” said distressed traveler Andrea Dawson.
Dawson and her family hoped to dodge Irma but ended up stuck at MIA after evacuating the Keys.
The family of seven arrived to the airport to find out that their flight home to Jamaica was cancelled after they checked in.
“Now I’m being told that my luggage is in Jamaica on the same flight that I was supposed to be on,” said Dawson. “The same flight is in Jamaica with my luggage, no passengers.”
Inside their luggage was everything the family had bought to ride out the storm.
“I have stuff that I bought for the storm, and I shipped everything, everything. I don’t have clothes to wear. My son is standing out there with nothing to wear. We’re now deciding where to head,” said Dawson.
The Dawsons weren’t the only ones who ran into trouble. The airport reported that more than 600 flights were cancelled, Friday.
By Friday evening, stranded passengers were taken to the safe zone in the airport. Officials said a few restaurants will stay open.
Stranded travelers may be taken to shelters depending on conditions.
“We don’t have the resources to accommodate a lot of people. If you’re a passenger and you’re trapped here, you have connecting flight and you’re trapped here, we’re not going to kick you out,” said MIA Official Jack Varela. “By the same token, you shouldn’t be coming here, using the airport as a shelter.”
The last American Airlines flight took off at 6 p.m.
“Because you’re trying to get out. You’re trying to get out, and nothing’s working, and finally a miracle happens, and this, to me, is a miracle,” said Sylvle Neufeld who secured a flight to Texas. “We’d been trying for over a week, and we couldn’t get any flights to anywhere. We don’t care where we’re going.”
The Dawsons hope to find a miracle of their own.
“Even if I’m in a shelter. If I’m going to go to a shelter right now, I need my clothes,” said Dawson.
The family said they will try to stay with some friends in Fort Lauderdale.
One family was lucky enough to find tickets to Washington D.C. but decided to turn around once they were told their dog would have to stay behind.
“We’re going back home,” said Coral Gables resident Marcos Buelvas, “Whole family said, ‘Nope, dog doesn’t go, we don’t go.'”
Buelvas said it was not an easy decision to stay behind with their dog Biscuit.
“Well, I didn’t make it, my wife did. She just said, ‘Look, he can’t go.”’ he said, “and I said, ‘You guys should go and I’ll stay with the dog,’ and she said, ‘No, no. We’ll all stay.'”
The final flight out of MIA took off at 9:30 p.m., Friday evening.
At Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, crews worked during the day to secure airport equipment.
The airport shut down after it’s final flight, Friday, and will be closed Saturday and Sunday.
We’re doing everything we can to ensure that it’s safe and ready to go after the storm,” said FLL Airport Spokesman Greg Meyer.
It remains unclear as to when service will resume at MIA. Officials said it depends on Irma’s impact.
“If there’s no damage to the runway, the tarmac, the tower, we will begin flying as soon as we can,” said Varela.
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