There were only a handful of cancellations at Boston's Logan airport on Tuesday morning, but with airports in Florida warning people they will be closing ahead of Hurricane Milton making landfall, a lot of people were making their way to family and friends elsewhere – including here to Boston.
St. Petersburg-Clearwater International, Southwest Florida International and Tampa International Airports closed later Tuesday. Orlando was set to close Wednesday morning.
With the devastation from Helene still being felt throughout the Southeast, people in Florida got warnings on their phones this week to get out ahead of Milton’s expected landfall late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.
Emergency officials not mincing words and telling people to leave now because they won't be able to survive Milton if it hits with the intensity expected.
Several people who flew here to Logan said they were afraid they wouldn’t be able to get out.
"I am so glad I got out. That was terrifying," said Olivia Crandall. "I was checking in and they’re like, 'Oh we’re closed tomorrow.' Very surprising, it’s scary.”
"This was pretty stressful trying to change everything, but we’re fortunate we were able to switch the flight from Thursday morning," added Laura Dougnac-Smogard. "There’s no way we could have gotten out this morning, so we left the house all shuttered up, and what else can you do?”
“I talked to a couple of people who were staying there and they’re really afraid that it’s going to be worse than Helene. They’ve upgraded it down there to Category 5 and they’ve already canceled the flights," said Nick Kotsifas, who flew out of Sarasota.
The storm was downgraded early Tuesday to a Category 4, but later re-strengthened into a Category 5.
“All the gas pumps were pretty much empty last night, especially in the Fort Myers area, but the grocery stores were still packed with food and water, so things seemed a little bit normal there," said Bill Watson, who flew out of Fort Myers. "But I’m sure tomorrow and the next day, it’s going to get a little bit crazier.”
The number of cancellations and delays at Logan are expected to add up as the day goes on.
