‘Catastrophic’ Hurricane Irma Heading For Caribbean

September 5, 2017

Hurricane Irma, a “potentially catastrophic” Category 5 storm, with winds approaching 200 miles an hour is expected to cause travel chaos as it passes through the Caribbean and heads towards the Florida coast.

The US National Hurricane Center has issued advisories on Hurricane Irma, currently located near the Leeward Islands, with an expected landfall in Florida sometime on Saturday.

Airlines have cancelled some flights as Irma continues its westerly track through the Lesser Antilles and other southern Caribbean islands late Tuesday and early Wednesday.

American Airlines issued a travel alert for over 30 airports, including Miami, and urged passengers to check with the airline about the status of their flight.

Delta said it was keeping “a keen eye on Irma” to gauge the impact to the airline’s operation. It has cancelled its St. Thomas operations for Wednesday and will delay evening operations in San Juan pending an assessment after the storm’s passage.

JetBlue, issued fee waivers for the Eastern Caribbean flights for Tuesday-Thursday, Western Caribbean for Wednesday-Friday, and Florida for Saturday and Sunday.

Southwest said it is “proactively” cancelling flights to San Juan, Puerto Rico and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic for Wednesday and Thursday, and flights to Nassau and Havana on Friday and Saturday.

United recommended passengers check their flight status before leaving for the airport. Like other carriers, United has a travel waiver for bookings to, from or through select airports in the Caribbean and Florida.

(Airwise)