Despite the clear skies last Wednesday, air travel in and out of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport proved quite hectic for some as Hurricane Ian made landfall that afternoon, resulting in the cancellation of 900 flights at Florida airports.
“We got in from New York to Miami,” traveler Antanasia Collins told NBC 5. “Then I got a message saying our flight is canceled to go to Cancun.” She and her husband had to reroute from Miami to Dallas in a bid to get to their final destination.
Flight cancellations in Florida started a day earlier, WFFA reported. Roughly 20 flights were canceled that Tuesday and almost 100 faced delays.
The majority of canceled flights were reportedly scheduled to or from Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota, Key West, and Fort Myers.
More than 2.5 million people were under mandatory evacuation orders when the hurricane hit.
Travelers who were able to get a flight and leave Florida felt very fortunate.
Dallas-born Tampa resident Marla Prather made the last flight from Tampa to DFW Airport last Tuesday afternoon. Prather told WFAA she flew to Texas without hesitation.
“The weather’s fixing to be horrible and we stay in a trailer!” she said. “I’m like, safest place to be is home with mom!”
Prather’s original flight was canceled, she said, but she secured a spot on the flight that landed just before 2:30 p.m.
“Just trying to get out you would either go over to Miami or you would go north,” said Florida resident Michael Laplaca. “The traffic that we did see was just horrendous when people did finally decide to evacuate.”
He commented further on his experience, explaining, “You’re constantly glued to the television and you’re waiting for the next update to come. It’s like you are anticipating the worst to happen and that is just draining on you.”