BOSTON – Hurricane Milton people at Logan Airport rushed to catch last-minute flights to and from Florida, with some coming to New England to escape before the powerful storm made landfall and others desperate to get home.
The Travel Impact of Hurricane Milton
Mass evacuations are underway in Florida as Milton, a huge category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 140 miles per hour, it is expected to make landfall by mid-week.
At Logan Airport, Jesse Ayres was on his way home to Orlando after coming to Boston for a charity golf tournament.
“I have a wife and three children, so I have to go home,” he said.
Ayres decided to leave Boston early to prepare the family home for Milton’s wrath.
“This is like getting the last flight back, so I’m definitely grateful to the airlines,” he said.
Florida airports are closing
Other travelers at Logan Airport to Florida were not so lucky. Nearly every flight to Tampa has been canceled, as have some to Fort Myers, Orlando and Sarasota.
It will soon be impossible to get flights to the area. Tampa International Airport suspended all flights at 9 a.m., followed by Sarasota-Bradenton at 4 p.m. on Tuesday.
Fort Myers and Orlando airports will close on Wednesday.
“People are very nervous because we haven’t had a direct hit like this in a long time,” said Mia Thielbar of Tampa.
Some passengers from Tampa, like Thielbar, made it from Florida just in time to ride out the storm in Boston.
Meanwhile, Shiela Chase heads to Jacksonville to settle down. She worries about her loved ones who cross Milton’s path.
“I have friends who live near Clearwater and they were flooded with five feet of water in their house and it’s now demolished and now they’re living in a hotel waiting for the next storm,” Chase said. “So it’s going to be devastating for a lot of people.”
Help from Massachusetts
That’s why FEMA Region 1, based in Cambridge, plans to deploy additional crews to the Southeast throughout the week.
Thirty Region 1 employees are already in place, continuing to provide logistics resources following Hurricane Helene.
“So we’ll deploy people and equipment to help the state in their efforts, bringing in food and water, and we’ll set up distribution points that will help people access those resources,” said Lauren McLane, director of external affairs for FEMA Region 1, said.
For anyone planning to fly to Florida this week, most airlines are offering free flight change vouchers, although it’s unclear when airports will reopen.
Penny Kmitt
