Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - As the powerful Hurricane Milton continues to churn its way through the Gulf of Mexico and towards the West Coast of Florida, many residents and others in the Sunshine State have already evacuated, or are in the process of trying to evacuate.
While Hurricane Milton has weakened a but as it veered to the Northeast, it remains a ferocious storm that could directly hit the cities of Tampa and St. Petersburg, engulfing the region with towering storm surge, while adding to the debris that was left from Hurricane Helene nearly two weeks ago.
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Elizabeth Carey from AAA of Western and Central New York says as soon as they saw this storm developing, they proactively started pulling a list of travelers that booked through them in an attempt to either alter their travel plans, or get them safely out of harm's way.
"Florida is always a hot spot for Western New York travelers, and October, no exceptions, despite it still being the tail-end of hurricane season," said Carey in an interview with WBEN. "Some people were choosing to hop on a flight and get home, but now some airports have shut down. Some other travelers said they were going to try and drive up North, or some even saying, 'We're going to drive to Miami. We have a hotel room there, and we're going to wait it out down in Southern Florida.' So it really just depended on the individual traveler's preferences.
Tampa's airport ended up closing Tuesday morning to travelers, while Orlando International Airport was set to cease operations Wednesday morning. With the different airports closing down, Carey says that usually sets quite a ripple effect from it.
"There's always a domino effect when we see that," she said. "So many flights have been canceled, and people are going to want to get to-and-from. That's going to keep happening, and so it's going to take several days after the storm to recover from that."
As for those who were planning to head to Florida for an upcoming trip, Carey advises travelers to consider whether they still want to take the trip, or elect to reschedule or plan a vacation elsewhere.
"That would really depend on what location they were going to, and what the status is there after the damage is assessed," Carey noted. "If you're planning on going somewhere to like Clearwater, where they still haven't cleaned up from Helene now Milton is supposed to hit there, that might be something you want to reconsider. That's something you're going to want to talk to your travel agent about, or if you booked directly through your hotel, your resort, contact them and stay in contact with them to see if they're up-and-running and what their operations are like."
While some were able to get out of dodge through the air, others elected to get in their cars and drive out of the region to safety.
"We're seeing gridlock on a lot of the roads down in Florida with so many people trying to evacuate at the same time," Carey said. "And again, limited gas supplies, gas supplies are tightening up in Florida, so that's causing a problem for people heading out on the roads as well. If you were thinking about traveling by car, and that something can be postponed, you're probably better off holding off for now instead of trying to get involved in there."
Another group of people potentially impacted by Hurricane Milton in the coming days and weeks are those on cruise liners exploring the Caribbean or the waters surrounding Florida.
"The Port of Tampa has really shut down. There's one cruise line that's parked there, and they plan to stay there. Otherwise, a lot of the cruise lines have had to divert to different ports, and some of the cruise lines that were supposed to go to Mexico today went to other ports instead. All the different cruise lines are kind of moving out and about to stay away from the storm, avoid it, and get people where they need to be," Carey said.
If you do have a cruise coming up, Carey advises travelers to stay in contact with your cruise line, as well as your airline, and hotel or resort to get any updates.
"Then you have to decide on a case-by-case basis. Is this something I can still do, or is it better off if I postpone?" Carey added. "Even Disney parks, for example, they're waiving all their cancelation fees, so if someone does want to cancel or change, you won't have to pay that penalty right now. We're going to see more-and-more of that with the airlines and the hotels, and everything trying to offer these waivers for people to rebook and change their plans."
Once the storm passes, Carey says it could take several days, or even weeks, before it may be possible, or even safe to try and book a trip to Florida in areas impacted by the hurricane.
"Once Florida recovers, they're going to want tourists to come, and to support them and help that economy rebuild. But going there in the midst of hurricane cleanup, when it's not enjoyable for a traveler that's supposed to be on vacation and you're just hampering efforts by the cleanup crews, it's not good for anyone," she said.