Hurricane Helene travel impacts: Tampa airport closes, warnings issued

Editor’s note: This post has been updated with the latest information about the storm. Check back here for the latest.

Much of the Southeast has been under a hurricane warning since Wednesday as Florida and Georgia brace for Hurricane Helene. It’s expected to make landfall as a Category 4 storm late Thursday near the Big Bend of Florida.

The storm, which was barreling towards land as a Category 3 storm Thursday afternoon, is expected to cause severe impacts across much of western Florida and Georgia. Forecasts show a track that’s likely to bring the eye of the storm up through Tallahassee, Florida, and near Atlanta before the remnants move slightly west into Tennessee.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has issued several storm warnings.

Heavy winds and rain will likely impact Florida’s west coast as the storm makes landfall. Tampa International Airport (TPA) halted operations early Thursday while evacuations were ordered across various parts of Florida.

Forecasters are warning of tropical storm-force winds, heavy rain, lightning and possible tornadoes and floods.

Travel operators are already making changes to prepare for the storm. Here’s what you need to know.

What airlines and airports are affected?

TPA officials said that the airport was closed as of 2 a.m. Thursday, and would remain closed “until it can assess any damage after the storm.”

St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport (PIE) — where Allegiant Air operates commercial flights — also shuttered on Thursday. This airport plans to reopen by Friday.

It was not immediately apparent how Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) would be affected as the storm moves northward on Friday, although Atlanta sat at the direct center of the official cone forecast as of Thursday morning. ATL is the world’s busiest airport by passenger traffic and the headquarters and home hub for Delta Air Lines.

The airport sits on the border between Clayton and Fulton counties in Georgia, which were both under a tropical storm warning on Thursday morning; the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency warned residents to prepare to be without power for at least 72 hours. In a statement Wednesday morning on X, the airport said that it had a severe weather plan in place.

More than 1,170 flights to, from and within the United States were canceled on Thursday, mostly of which were to or from Tampa, Atlanta or other affected Florida airports. As of 3 p.m. ET on Thursday, a total of 218 of Friday’s U.S. flights had been canceled, although that number is likely to climb as the storm makes landfall.

Delta issued a travel waiver for passengers scheduled to fly to, from or through ATL on Friday, Sept. 27; the waiver allows them to rebook travel for Sept. 28 to Oct. 1 without paying a difference in fares. The new flight must be booked and occur by Oct. 1.

The airline issued a broader waiver for travel to or from airports across much of the forecasted path, including ones in cities in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Mexico and Cuba. That waiver applies to travelers scheduled to fly Sept. 25 to 27. Travel must be rebooked and occur by Oct. 4.

In a statement, a Delta spokesperson said that the airline’s operations and customer teams in Atlanta “continue to monitor the projected path of Hurricane Helene and will make adjustments to flight schedules as needed.”

Other airlines issued similar waivers ahead of the storm. American Airlines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines and JetBlue each offered various waivers for travel scheduled between Wednesday and Friday, as did Alaska Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Spirit Airlines and Allegiant.

If you’re scheduled to fly over the next few days, make sure you check your reservation and check in with your airline to understand your options.

Will it affect cruise line operations?

Port Tampa Bay, Port Canaveral and the Jacksonville cruise port are currently closed. Additionally, some cruise lines — including Royal Caribbean, MSC Cruises, Margaritaville at Sea and Carnival Cruise Line — have altered their itineraries due to the hurricane.

Cruisers who plan to depart from those two ports over the next few days should call their cruise line for updates on Hurricane Helene’s potential impact on their itinerary.

Any impact on theme parks?

Some parks in the Orlando and Tampa areas — including Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and Universal’s Volcano Bay water park — have decided to close on Thursday.

At Disney World, Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Water Park and its miniature golf courses are closed on Thursday. Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party is also canceled for Thursday night, with Magic Kingdom park hours extending from 6 to 8 p.m. for regular guests. Disney Halloween Party tickets are being refunded.

At Universal Orlando, Thursday night’s Halloween Horror Nights event is also canceled. Those with tickets dated for that event Thursday night can have them honored for a different night through Sunday, Sept. 29.

Legoland Florida Resort and SeaWorld Orlando are currently operating as normal.

Is it safe to travel to Florida and Georgia?

If you have an upcoming trip to Florida or Georgia scheduled, stay ahead of the developments in your specific area. It might be best to rearrange travel.

Airlines have issued travel alerts offering free changes and more flexibility, so if you have flights booked Thursday or Friday, it may make sense to rebook for a later time or cancel altogether. Florida declared a state of emergency for 41 of the state’s 67 counties; Georgia has also declared a state of emergency in parts of that state.

Tropical storm warnings are in place for much of Atlanta. If the storm ends up making a big impact there, it could mess up flights across the country since ATL is a massive hub.

Bottom line

If you have travel booked in the next few days, you should pay special attention to airport delays and cancellations as a big hurricane can impact travel across the country. If you have plans to travel to Georgia or Florida, it might be best to reschedule or cancel altogether. If you are traveling to a destination that could potentially be affected, you should make alternative plans now.

Airlines have activated more flexible change and cancellation rules. If you booked a trip with a credit card that provides some built-in trip insurance, look at the terms of those benefits to learn what expenses you may be able to recoup in the event of any nonrefundable charges.

Although this goes without saying, you should not travel to any hurricane-impacted part of a state where officials have told people to stay off the roads.

We will continue to update this developing story as the storm progresses.

For more helpful tips on navigating travel during hurricane season, read: