How to Know When Its Safe Try Drive Again After Hurricane Irma
Communication if You're Traveling and In that location'southward a Hurricane
Hurricane Harvey hit and dilapidated much of Houston on Aug. 25, and now Hurricane Irma, which is considered to be the most powerful Atlantic storm ever recorded, struck the Caribbean island of Barbuda early Wednesday morning and is expected to attain Puerto Rico and other islands subsequently in the mean solar day or this evening. The tropical tempest Jose currently trails backside Irma, and early on Midweek, a fourth tropical storm, Katia, was strengthening in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico.
These storms raise the question of what travelers should practice if they are scheduled to travel to a destination in the path of a tempest. And what should they practice if they're in a destination where a storm is imminent or has already made landfall, and how should they stay safe while in that location?
Here, answers to storm-related travel questions.
What if I'one thousand in a destination and a storm is nigh to hitting?
Act quickly to leave town, says Tim Horner, a senior managing manager at the New York-based security company Kroll and an expert on staying safe during a natural disaster. "Your beginning line of defense force should be to evacuate if you tin can and follow the evacuation directions of the local authorities," he said.
If you lot're flying, phone call your airline to get a seat on the next available flight. If no seats are available or if the flight isn't until the next twenty-four hours, consider ownership a one-way ticket back home on another airline. Mr. Horner emphasized that it's important to take action to leave the surface area in the days before a storm is predicted to hitting and not the solar day of; otherwise, chances are that yous'll go caught at the offset of the storm, which means your outbound flying will be canceled.
Also, before you leave your hotel to head to the airport, ask if information technology'southward possible to return in instance your flight is canceled — you want to avert relying on the airport as a shelter, if y'all tin can.
Additional tips: Stock up on a flashlight with extra batteries, blankets and plenty of water and nutrient. Backdrop in hurricane-decumbent areas oft provide these items to their guests in the event of a tempest, according to Christine Sarkis, the deputy executive editor of the online travel mag SmarterTravel, but if that's not the example, you tin buy them at a local grocery or supply shop.
And if yous're staying at a hotel on the embankment, Mr. Horner advised finding alternative accommodations at a belongings inland because the chances of flooding are greater along the water.
I'm stranded in a destination where a storm has hit. Now what?
Mr. Horner said that information technology's critical to let your family unit members and friends at dwelling likewise as your employer know where yous are and stay in constant communication with them throughout the storm. "People tend to become displaced during a tempest," he said. An anecdote from his career reflects the importance of this advice: when Hurricane Katrina battered New Orleans, Mr. Horner was hired by a visitor to observe 260 of its employees, who were in the city simply could not be located. "Nobody knew where they were," he said. (They were all ultimately plant and condom.)
Also, be sure to continue your cellphone charged. Mr. Horner recommended always traveling with a few portable power chargers or power packs, which need to exist pre-charged only don't need a wall outlet to work.
Other advice: have your bags packed then that you're prepare to move at a moment's find. Ms. Sarkis'due south close friend got stuck at his hotel in Cabo San Lucas when Hurricane Odell hit in 2014 and had to move quickly to another part of the property because the tempest blew out the glass doors leading to his balcony.
And in the midst of preparing the necessities, don't forget to program for some leisure activities. Books, board games and cards all do the play tricks. "Being occupied with something fun can help go on you at-home when a storm is happening and will make the time become by faster," Ms. Sarkis said.
What should I practise if I accept an imminent trip planned to a destination in the path of a storm?
Call your airline and hotel immediately, Ms. Sarkis says. "If you oasis't yet left for your trip only see that a hurricane is predicted to where you're going, it'due south essential to call your hotel and airline right away to determine their rebooking and cancellation policies," she said.
According to Ms. Sarkis, airlines flight to a destination where a storm is predicted will ofttimes have travel alerts on their websites indicating the instances in which travelers tin can rebook their tickets without paying change fees and how long they have to do so (American Airlines, for example, has an alert on its site related to Hurricane Irma). However, if your trip looks unlikely to happen at all — say because your hotel has severe damage from the storm — Ms. Sarkis brash working with your airline (a telephone call with a live person is best) to explore alternative destinations. Instead of that trip to Puerto Rico, for instance, y'all may consider a trip to Southern California or to another warm-weather condition destination.
When it comes to your hotel, go along in listen that many backdrop in hurricane-prone destinations know that a hurricane could strike in the summertime and early fall and tend to be pretty flexible when it comes to offering refunds or rebooking for a future stay, potentially fifty-fifty if that stay is six months or more down the line. "Hotels situated in hurricane zones are used to guests changing or canceling their trips when a storm is predicted to hit," Ms. Sarkis said.
I bought travel insurance earlier my trip to a storm affected destination. How practice I apply my policy?
Stan Sandberg, the co-founder of the trip insurance comparing site TravelInsurance.com, said that if you lot've already purchased a travel insurance policy and are at a destination or scheduled to depart to a destination affected by a storm, you may take coverage to finish your trip early or outright cancel your trip. The majority of travel insurance plans with trip counterfoil and trip interruption coverage will reimburse your pre-paid, non-refundable expenses lost as a consequence of canceling a trip or ending a trip prematurely due to severe weather. "You should contact your travel insurance issuer to confirm your coverage," Mr. Sandberg said. Other reasons to abolish or end your trip early include mandatory evacuation at your destination and if your destination becomes uninhabitable due to natural disasters. Simply remember, said Mr. Sandberg, once a storm is named, you lot can no longer purchase travel insurance to protect against that tempest.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/06/travel/irma-hurricane-tips.html
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