Over 1,000 Flights Cancelled and 5 States Declare Emergency Ahead of Hurricane Florence

Hurricane Florence continues its fateful march toward the Carolina coast. Ahead of the major hurricane’s landfall, numerous airports are closing Wednesday night. Already over 1,000 flights have been canceled due to the massive storm as tropical storm winds are expected to move onshore Thursday night.

As of 8:00pm ET Wednesday, Hurricane Florence’s top sustained wind speed dropped slightly to 115mph. However, this doesn’t mean that the hurricane has weakened. Instead — as we saw with Hurricane Katrina in the days before landfall — Hurricane Florence’s energy is dispersing over a larger area. The storm’s hurricane force wind field now extends 70 miles from the center of circulation, with tropical storm force winds extending 195 miles from the center.

The forecast track calls for the dangerous hurricane to stall out off of the North Carolina coast on Friday before finally meandering onshore late Friday or sometime Saturday as a Category 3 hurricane:

Ahead of the storm, governors of North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Georgia have declared a state of emergency — freeing up emergency resources to help prepare for the storm and deal with the aftermath.

Storm Surge of up to 13 feet

Disastrous storm surge is expected from Hurricane Florence. The National Hurricane Center is predicting between 9 and 13 feet of sea water is likely to cover the coast in parts of North Carolina. The latest detailed information from the NHC:

• Cape Fear NC to Cape Lookout NC, including the Neuse, Pamlico, Pungo, and Bay Rivers…9-13 ft
• North Myrtle Beach SC to Cape Fear NC…6-9 ft
• Cape Lookout NC to Ocracoke Inlet NC…6-9 ft
• South Santee River SC to North Myrtle Beach SC…4-6 ft
• Ocracoke Inlet NC to Salvo NC…4-6 ft

As it’s hard to fathom just how catastrophic a 13 foot storm surge would be, the Weather Channel attempts to demonstrate this level of flooding in this video:

Torrential Rain Threat

In addition to the storm surge, life-threatening, catastrophic flash flooding and prolonged significant river flooding remain a major concern from Hurricane Florence. Due to its slow path through the Carolina coast, forecasters are predicting that up to 40 inches of rain could fall in parts of North Carolina. Currently, the official forecast predicts:

• Coastal North Carolina…20 to 30 inches, isolated 40 inches.
• South Carolina, western and northern North Carolina…5 to 10 inches, isolated 20 inches.
• Elsewhere in the Appalachians and Mid-Atlantic states…3 to 6 inches, isolated 12 inches.

Airport Closures

Numerous airports are planning to close Wednesday night ahead of Hurricane Florence’s arrival:

Flight Cancellations

According to FlightAware’s flight cancellation tracker, more than 1,000 flights have already been cancelled due to the storm. In addition to dozens of flights being cancelled from coastal Carolina airports on Wednesday, at least 535 flights have been cancelled Thursday and 426 flights have already been cancelled Friday. And these numbers likely don’t yet reflect all of the cancellations to/from airports that are closing due to the hurricane.

The airports with the largest number of cancellations so far include:

• Charlotte (CLT): 301 cancellations Thursday & Friday
• Raleigh/Durham (RDU): 233 cancellations Thursday & Friday
• Charleston, SC (CHS): 223 cancellations Thursday & Friday
• Myrtle Beach, SC (MYR): 92 cancellations Thursday & Friday

3.2 Million Forecast to Lose Power

Based on the latest models, researchers from the University of Michigan are predicting that the hurricane will leave approximately 3.2 million residents without power — up from a forecast of 2.7 million earlier Wednesday.

With the Waffle House Index being a key measure of a storm’s danger, FEMA is surely keeping a close eye on the Waffle House Storm Center:

Airline Fare Caps and Fee Waivers

If you still have a flight scheduled into, out of or through the Southeast, ten airlines have issued weather waivers for the area — many of which have been expanded since they were originally posted. As of 8:00pm ET on Wednesday, the following waivers have been issued for Hurricane Florence.

In This Post

Alaska Airlines

Allegiant

• Travel dates: September 12-16
• Covered airports: Asheville, NC (AVL); Charleston, SC (CHS); Concord, NC (USA); Greensboro, NC (GSO); Greenville, SC (GSP); Myrtle Beach, SC (MYR); Norfolk, VA (ORF); Richmond, VA (RIC); Roanoke, VA (ROA); Savannah, GA (SAV)
• Passengers with reservations to / from any of the above cities, will be able to request a one-time change to their travel plans without incurring change / cancel fees. To do so, customers must call Allegiant Customer Care at 702-505-8888 at any time 24 hours per day, seven days a week.
• Itineraries must be changed within 14 days from this weather advisory for travel on any future open date to any city in the Allegiant network, excluding San Juan.

American

• Travel dates: September 10-16
• Covered airports: Asheville, North Carolina (AVL); Augusta, Georgia (AGS); Charleston, South Carolina (CHS); Charlotte, North Carolina (CLT); Charlottesville, Virginia (CHO); Columbia, South Carolina (CAE); Fayetteville, North Carolina (FAY); Florence, South Carolina (FLO); Greensboro / High Point, North Carolina (GSO); Greenville / Spartanburg, South Carolina (GSP); Greenville, North Carolina (PGV); Hampton / Newport News, Virginia (PHF); Hilton Head, South Carolina (HHH); Jacksonville, North Carolina (OAJ); Lynchburg, Virginia (LYH); Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (MYR); New Bern, North Carolina (EWN); Norfolk, Virginia (ORF); Raleigh / Durham, North Carolina (RDU); Richmond, Virginia (RIC); Roanoke, Virginia (ROA); Savannah, Georgia (SAV); Wilmington, North Carolina (ILM)
• Must have purchased ticket by: September 10
• Rebooked travel must occur between September 10-20
• You may change your origin and destination to any another city affected by this alert. You may also change your flights to depart from or arrive at: Baltimore, Maryland (BWI); Washington Reagan, Washington D.C. (DCA); Washington Dulles, Washington D.C. (IAD)
• Rebook in the same cabin or pay the difference.
• Avoid the phone queue. Changes available on both AA’s website and in the AA app.

Delta

• Travel dates: September 11-17
• Covered airports: Asheville, NC (AVL); Augusta, GA (AGS); Charleston, SC (CHS); Charlotte, NC (CLT); Charlottesville, VA (CHO); Columbia, SC (CAE); Fayetteville, NC (FAY); Greensboro, NC (GSO); Greenville/Spartanburg, SC (GSP); Jacksonville, NC (OAJ); Myrtle Beach, SC (MYR); Norfolk, VA (ORF); New Bern, NC (EWN); Newport News, VA (PHF); Raleigh-Durham, NC (RDU); Richmond, VA (RIC); Roanoke, VA (ROA); Savannah, GA (SAV); Wilmington, NC (ILM)
• Tickets must have been purchased by: September 11
• Tickets must be reissued by: September 21
• Rebooked travel must begin no later than: September 21
• Changes to origins and destinations may result in an increase in fare. Any difference in fare between your original ticket and the new ticket will be collected at the time of booking.
• When rescheduled travel occurs beyond September 21, the change fee will be waived. However, a difference in fare may apply. Final travel must be completed by end of ticket validity, one year from date of original issue.
• If travel is not able to be rescheduled within these guidelines, customers may cancel their reservation and apply any unused value of the ticket toward the purchase of a new ticket for a period of one year from the original ticket issuance. Applicable change fee and fare difference will apply for new travel dates.

Frontier

JetBlue

Southwest

Spirit

United

• Travel dates: September 10-16
• Covered airports: Greenville/Spartanburg, SC (GSP); Columbia, SC (CAE); Myrtle Beach, SC (MYR); Charleston, SC (CHS); Wilmington, NC (ILM); Fayetteville, NC (FAY); Raleigh/Durham, NC (RDU); Charlotte, NC (CLT); Greensboro, NC (GSO); Asheville, NC (AVL); Roanoke, VA (ROA); Norfolk, VA (ORF); Richmond, VA (RIC); Charlottesville, VA (CHO); Shenandoah Valley Airport, VA (SHD); Savannah, GA (SAV)
• The change fee and any difference in fare will be waived for new United flights departing between September 10-16, as long as travel is rescheduled in the originally ticketed cabin (any fare class) and between the same cities as originally ticketed.
• For wholly rescheduled travel departing after September 20 or for a change in departure or destination city, the change fee will be waived, but a difference in fare may apply. Rescheduled travel must be completed within one year from the date when the ticket was issued.

WestJet

• Travel dates: September 14
• Covered airports: Myrtle Beach, SC (MYR)
• To find out more about the change and cancel options due to these advisories, please call: WestJet flights: 1-888-937-8538 or WestJet Vacations: 1-877-737-7001

Protect Your Travels

Make sure to book flights with a card that offers solid trip delay and cancellation insurance. When I got stuck in Japan for four extra days due to a typhoon, I was very grateful for the Citi Prestige’s trip delay protection, which reimbursed $1,000 of our expenses.

Although the Citi Prestige used to be my go-to for booking flights, a recent devaluation to the card’s travel benefits knocked it out of its top spot. Currently, I’m using my Chase Sapphire Reserve to book my flights going forward. Other top choices are the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard and the Citi ThankYou Premier Card.

Source: thepointsguy.com