Irma Inspires a Travel Search: Where to Evacuate
By Thursday afternoon, JetBlue, American Airlines, United and Delta had all capped their one-way ticket prices out of Florida ahead of Irma’s arrival, although there were still reports of price fluctuations despite the caps.
Some airlines and cruise lines have left travelers in limbo. While all cruises out of Florida set to leave Friday were canceled, some cruises that scheduled to sail from Central and South Florida remain on course to depart over the weekend. Cruise companies are urging customers to check in daily as conditions evolve.
Irma Update: The following sailings have been canceled – Splendor 9/9, Liberty 9/10. See full details here: https://t.co/uBWMi8SHA6
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Carnival Cruise Line (@CarnivalCruise)
Sept. 7, 2017
As soon as Irma appeared on the radar, Dave Kartunen, a Savannah, Ga., resident, booked a hotel room 50 miles inland. “Hurricane planning has taken a certain level importance in my family,” he said. Mr. Kartunen, a father of two, has Post-traumatic stress disorder from covering Hurricane Katrina as a news anchor.
“Evacuating is sort of a no good deed goes unpunished,” he said. “You don’t want to drive too far because it’s like going on a run – for every mile you go, you’re going to have to go back. Every mile is going to be painful.”
Eduardo Del Carmen, a Miami resident, decided to evacuate as well, comparing Irma to Hurricane Andrew, the last Category 5 storm to hit the United States, which arrived in 1992. His family evacuated for Andrew and was displaced for months.
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“You can’t play around too much with a storm like this, so I think we may be waking up at 5 a.m. tomorrow to drive to Tampa,” Mr. Del Carmen said. “Last night was our first good night of sleep in a while, knowing we were ready to go. We have a place to stay and gas in our car.”
For all those who can evacuate by road or air, many cannot because of physical or financial constraints.
“We’re lucky, we have the mobility,” Mr. Kartunen said. “I’m terrified for the people that no one cares about, those that don’t have the ability to make the decisions that we do.”
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