Thousands of Flights Disrupted as Hurricane Debby Slams Florida Coast

Thousands of flights were canceled or delayed on Monday as Hurricane Debby made landfall along the Big Bend coast of Florida as a Category 1 storm.

In total, more than 1,300 flights were canceled within, into, or out of the United States as of Monday morning and over 1,800 more were delayed, according to flight tracker FlightAware. The largest share of those disruptions were out of Orlando International Airport (MCO), as 20 percent of its scheduled flights were canceled and another 14 percent delayed.

Tampa International Airport (TPA), Miami International Airport (MIA), and Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) each dealt with disruptions as well.

American Airlines had the most cancellations, axing more than 370 flights, or 10 percent of its total schedule. That was followed by Southwest, which canceled more than 240 flights, and Delta, which canceled more than 130 flights.

The flight issues followed a headache of a weekend that saw more than 3,800 flights canceled on Saturday and Sunday and an astounding 19,000 flights delayed.

Major airlines in the U.S. issued travel alerts, waiving change fees and fare differences for passengers who postpone travel, including Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue, and Spirit Airlines.

The flight disruptions come as Hurricane Debby slammed Florida’s Gulf Coast with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph on Monday morning, The Associated Press reported. The storm was expected to slowly move north across the northern part of Florida and then stall over coastal Georgia and South Carolina.

Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 61 counties in the state, while Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster each declared a state of emergency in their own states as well.

Hurricane Debby became the fourth named storm of this year’s Atlantic hurricane season, which is expected to be an “above-normal” one.