Hurricane Florence threatens to snarl travel across Mid-Atlantic states
Travelers are bracing for a rough ride as Hurricane Florence barrels toward the East Coast, with the storm expected to snarl roadways, air and rail travel as early as Thursday and disruptions forecast to persist through the weekend.
While most airlines have started offering travel waivers to those flying to and from the Southeast, a spokesperson for flight data tracking service FlightAware said it doesn't expect to see large numbers of storm-related cancellations until midday Wednesday.
- Hurricane Florence could be costliest storm ever to hit the U.S.
- Millions of Americans brace for impact as Hurricane Florence churns toward East Coast
Expected to gather force later Tuesday, Florence may cause "life-threatening" storm surge in coastal parts of North and South Carolina, the National Hurricane Center said in an advisory Tuesday. Forecast to make landfall late Thursday or early Friday between Charleston, South Carolina, and Norfolk, Virginia, the hurricane is for now rated as a Category 4 storm, with winds of 130 to 156 miles an hour.
Experts warn that Florence could top Hurricane Katrina in 2005 in terms of property damage, with potential reconstruction of costs of $170 billion. That would make it the most destructive storm in U.S. history in terms of financial losses for homeowners and businesses.
Amtrak is canceling rail service to locations south of Washington, D.C. starting Wednesday and continuing through the weekend; starting Thursday, the Northeast Regional service will only run trains north of the capital. The railway is also waiving fees for travelers and said it would accommodate riders on other trains.
Major airlines that serve the mid-Atlantic region are offering change-fee waivers and flexible rebooking in areas expected to be in the path of Florence. Carriers including Southwest, JetBlue, Spirit, American and Delta said passengers can switch flights to and from affected regions without penalty from Sept. 13 through Sept. 16.
The relaxed rebooking policies include airports in the Carolinas, Georgia and Virginia, with Southwest expanding its policy north to include Baltimore/Washington International, Reagan National and Dulles airports.
"Based on current models, it's likely that the biggest impact will be to the Charlotte airport, which is an American Airlines hub. If the storm turns North towards D.C., more airlines will be impacted, but the disruption will be similar in scale to an afternoon or two of thunderstorms," the FlightAware spokesperson said.
More than a million people were under mandatory orders to evacuate in coastal areas of North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, with many more being urged to do so voluntarily. In Charleston, South Carolina, a major interstate is reversing direction for roughly 100 miles and directing every lane inland in order to make it easier for people to leave.
Expect "dramatic" spike in gas prices
Laws to combat price gouging are reportedly already in effect in North Carolina and South Carolina, while motorists on the East Coast can expect to see gas prices spike this week due to Florence, according to AAA.
"A storm like this typically causes an increase in fuel purchases in the market and a slowdown in retail demand. Motorists can expect spikes in pump prices to be brief, but possibly dramatic," an AAA spokesperson said in a statement.
Boeing suspended operations Tuesday at plants in North Charleston, South Carolina, to give employees and their families time to evacuate ahead of Florence's making landfall. The aerospace giant employs 6,700 people in South Carolina, where its 787 Dreamliner planes are built.
"Due to impacts from Hurricane Florence, an evacuation order has been issued for coastal South Carolina, including Charleston, Dorchester, and Berkeley counties, beginning at noon Tuesday, Sept. 11," a spokesperson for Boeing said by email. "In line with that order, Boeing will suspend operations at Boeing South Carolina today so our employees can properly evacuate. We will resume operations once it is safe to do so."