NE Nor'easter Leads To S. Fla. Flight Cancellations
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A little more than a week after Sandy left a path of destruction through a section of the Northeast, residents of New York and New Jersey are getting ready for the approach of a strong nor'easter storm moving up the coast from Florida.
In preparation for the storm, some major airlines were scrapping flights ahead of the storm.
At Miami International Airport, a total of 30 arrivals and departures had been canceled.
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At Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport a total of 18 arrivals and departures had been canceled.
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United, the world's largest airline, will suspend most New York City service starting at noon.
American Airlines will shut down in New York at 3 p.m. and stopping flights to and from Philadelphia at noon.
Most other airlines asked passengers to reschedule their Northeast flights for a later date.
Airport officials are urging travelers to check with their carrier before coming to the airport.
There's a dollars and cents reason that airlines cancel big swaths of their schedules well ahead of bad weather. Cancellations aren't as expensive for airlines as one might think.
Most passengers eventually reschedule, so the airline still collects the fare. And if flights are canceled, the airline doesn't have to pay the crew or the cost of burning fuel. Many passengers on canceled flights are also often squeezed onto another flight, which improves the airline's efficiency.
Airlines also are not required to pay for hotel rooms, food or other expenses for passengers stuck overnight due to the weather, as many stranded by Sandy learned the hard way.
Weather experts had some relatively good news for those bracing for the latest round of nasty weather. As the storm moves up the Atlantic coast, it now is expected to veer farther offshore than earlier projections had indicated.
Storm surges along the coasts of New Jersey and New York are expected to reach perhaps 3 feet, only half to a third of what Sandy caused last week. High winds, which could reach 65 mph, could extend inland throughout the day, potentially stalling power restoration efforts or causing further outages.
New York City officials strongly encouraged storm-ravaged communities to seek higher ground.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered police to use their patrol car loudspeakers to warn vulnerable residents about evacuating.
In New Jersey, winds were kicking up Wednesday morning and some battered shore communities were ordering mandatory evacuations for later in the day.
Atlantic County, in the southern part of New Jersey, activated its emergency operations center and told residents to restock their emergency supplies.
Officials were waiting for the first high tide around 1 p.m. to see if flooding would occur and also hoping the winds would not lead to more power outages.
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