Tropical Storm Debby Expected To Strengthen Into Hurricane Impacting Florida Travel

Here comes Debby.

A tropical depression in the Gulf of
Mexico on the west coast of Florida is expected to strengthen into a hurricane
or a named storm imminently, according to the Weather Channel.

Although it took a while to develop and is
not as severe as past storms in the area, this one will still pack a punch with
high winds and plenty of rain. And that could disrupt travel. Debby is expected
to hit southwest Florida late tonight and into Sunday. 

Not only is it expected to impact Florida
from Naples to Fort Myers to Tampa to Sarasota, it is expected to make a turn
and impact Orlando as well in the central part of the state. Forecasters also
predict it will hit the Panhandle in the state and affect Pensacola and as far
east as Jacksonville before barrelling up the East Coast into the Carolinas and
Georgia. 

As of 2 p.m. on Saturday, there have been over 20,000 delayed flights worldwide, according to FlightAware, and over 3,000 delays in the United States. There
have been over 1,000 cancelations in the U.S. on Saturday so far. 

Most major domestic airlines in the United
States have yet to issue waivers or change-fee notifications. In fact, the top
three airports for delays and cancelations so far have been in the New York
City area – LaGuardia, John F. Kennedy and Newark.

That will likely change as the weekend
progresses.

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