Hurricane Milton impacting travel plans for San Diegans, others across nation

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Some airports across the U.S, including San Diego International Airport, are still feeling the impact of Hurricane Milton.

Many travel sites checked by ABC 10News Friday morning showed only a handful of options for direct flights from San Diego to Florida.

There are more options for those willing to make stops along the way.

Reporter Moses Small spoke to a traveler from Florida named Joe, who said he’s lucky his family’s home wasn’t damaged while he was on a trip to San Diego during the storm.

“It’s good. My wife’s back home so she had to deal with it,” said Joe. “Before I left, I battened everything down, closed all the storm hatches and stuff. But she made out well. That’s the best part, that’s what really matters.”

Joe said his flight was scheduled for earlier this week but got delayed by the storm.

People are still reeling, since Milton was Florida’s third hurricane so far this year. It also broke a record for being the fastest storm to strengthen to a Category 5, before it eventually made landfall Wednesday as a Category 3 storm.

ABC 10News also spoke to Jeanne Redlinger, who lives in Encinitas but got trapped by Milton while visiting her son in Orlando.

Redlinger said she watched Milton uproot trees and shut down power, but she remained safe.

“For me, this is my first one and it was terrifying to be in a place that we could potentially be killed or hurt,” said Redlinger. “But my son’s been through these a few times now and he was very confident that we were gonna be OK.”

Redlinger said she has a flight home scheduled this weekend.

In the meantime, many of Florida’s airports reopened Friday morning after several days of closure.

There are still some families with roots in San Diego who need help after Milton, including the Gino family. Click here for more information on how to help the Gino family.