New York
CNN
—
Flights across Florida continue to be disrupted Wednesday as Hurricane Idalia nears landfall on the state.
Several airports are closed Wednesday, including Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota and Tallahassee, according to the Federal Aviation Authority. They will reopen possibly on Thursday depending on damage assessments.
Flight tracking website FlightAware shows that Southwest Airlines’ schedule is the most affected with 200 cancellations. United, Delta and American Airlines are also impacted with about 200 delays combined and roughly 300 cancellations.
Several airlines, including Delta, Southwest, JetBlue and United, have issued advisories to passengers traveling to airports in Idalia’s path, allowing passengers to make changes for free within an allotted time.
Overnight, Idalia intensified into an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane as it barreled toward Florida’s west coast early Wednesday. The storm is packing 130 mph winds as of 5 am ET and is already causing flooding in some coastal areas. It’s expected to make landfall this morning.
On Tuesday, Amtrak canceled several trains and modified routes in advance of the hurricane.
The rail line so far canceled 12 East Coast routes for Tuesday and Wednesday that originate or terminate in the Orlando and Miami areas. Those routes are the Auto Train, Silver Star and Silver Meteor.
Amtrak also shortened Palmetto routes for Tuesday and Wednesday. That route, which typically runs from New York to Savannah, Georgia, will go only as far south as Washington, DC.
