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Over 1,000 flights cancelled as Hurricane Dorian continues to cause havoc

Ainsley Smith
Ainsley Smith
|
Sep 3 2019, 3:44 pm
Over 1,000 flights cancelled as Hurricane Dorian continues to cause havoc

Thousands of flights have been cancelled on Tuesday, as Hurricane Dorian continues to batter the Bahamas and make its way toward the US.

With a life-threatening storm surge and dangerous hurricane-force winds expected along portions of the Florida east coast and the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina, travellers are being faced with cancelled flights.

Flight-tracking website Flight Aware is currently showing that over 640 flights outbound from Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and Palm Beach have been cancelled, along with over 570 inbound flights to these cities.

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Canadian airlines have also been impacted, with WestJet already cancelling its flights to Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Fort Myers, Tampa, and Nassau. The flights will be cancelled until it’s “safe to resume flying.”

Air Canada says it’s implemented a policy to make it easier for travellers to make voluntary changes to their itinerary during the hurricane.

Passengers travelling through the Dominican Republic, Turks and Caicos, and the Bahamas are able to rebook, and the airline is waiving flight change fees for passengers scheduled to fly to Southwest Florida, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Savannah/Hilton Head.

The government of Canada continues to urge Canadians not to travel to Florida and the Bahamas as the hurricane continues to wreak havoc in the Caribbean.

In advisories issued Sunday, the government urged Canadians to “avoid all travel” to the east coast of Florida, from north of Deerfield Beach to the mouth of the St. Marys River, and to the northwestern Bahamas.

“The decision to travel is your choice and you are responsible for your personal safety abroad,” the advisory reads. “We take the safety and security of Canadians abroad very seriously.”

Meanwhile, Freeport-Grand Bahama International Airport in the Bahamas is currently submerged underwater, while Nassau’s Lynden Pindling International Airport remains operational.

Delta Airlines has also issued a travel advisory that’s in effect through next week. Passengers taking a Delta flight to Georgia, or South and North Carolina will be able to rebook their travel plans without a fee.

Dorian made landfall Sunday evening as a Category 5 hurricane in the northern Bahamas and has continued causing destruction since.

In a tweet posted Monday afternoon, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canadians are “thinking of all those in the Bahamas impacted by Hurricane Dorian’s destruction.”

“We’re ready to provide support if needed,” he wrote. “And I urge everyone still in the storm’s path to stay safe and follow instructions from local authorities.”


Ainsley SmithAinsley Smith
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