US airlines prepare for major hurricane
As the Texas Gulf Coast braces for a major hurricane, airlines have warned of major disruption and offered waivers.
Hurricane Harvey could be the biggest storm to hit the US for more than a decade with Hurricane warnings, storm surge watches, and states of emergency across a large area of Southern Texas.
It is expected to make landfall somewhere near Corpus Christi, Texas, late Friday or early Saturday.
Delta Air Lines is waiving fees for flight changes through airports in Houston, Austin and San Antonio for Friday and Saturday.
United Airlines’ waiver policy also covers flights at Beaumont/Port Arthur, Brownsville, College Station, Corpus Christi, Harlingen and McAllen.
Additionally, Southwest Airlines, Spirit, JetBlue and Frontier have similar waivers.
Carnival Cruise Line is keeping a watchful eye on developments as it has scheduled cruises out of Galveston this weekend.
“We are closely monitoring Hurricane Harvey and are continuing to evaluate the projected path and potential impact on our operations in Galveston this weekend,” Carnival said.
Royal Caribbean will update later today regarding plans for the Liberty of the Seas which is scheduled for a turnaround at the Port of Galveston on Sunday.
The National Weather Service warned of ‘torrential rain’ which could reach up to 35 inches in southeast Texas and parts of Louisiana with the possibility of ‘life-threatening flash flooding from destructive waves’.
Meteorologists say all the conditions have aligned for the perfect storm.
“It’s a very dangerous storm. It does have all the ingredients it needs to intensify. And we’re seeing that intensification occur quite rapidly,” National Weather Service Director Louis Uccellini told The AP.
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