An Enfield couple had to cut their vacation short in Myrtle Beach before Hurricane Florence hits the southeastern seaboard.
“As the hurricane became stronger and the news became more often, the governor came on yesterday and said it was mandatory evacuation,” Karen Kwiecienski said.
Kwiecienski and her husband Paul arrived in South Carolina on Saturday for what they hoped would be a week-long beach vacation.
“We thought about going inland but the more they talked about it they said that inland was going to have a lot of flooding and there will probably be losing power,” she said.
Hurricane Florence is expected to bring the triple threat of a strong coastal storm surge, flooding from prolonged heavy rain and damaging hurricane-force winds.
“Travel with caution, have patience and certainly if you can change your travel plans to not be traveling during the time of the storm please do so,” AAA Director of Travel Suzanne Aresco told NBC Connecticut.
Major airlines are waiving fees to cancel or change flights this week in the Carolinas and Virginia, Aresco said.
Local
“What they don’t do is add additional flights,” Aresco said. “But they do want to move people and get people traveling as quickly as possible so then when they are shutting down and not flying they have less people to re-accommodate at later times.”
The airport in Charlotte is the largest in the region that could potentially shut down, but American Airlines has a list of more than 20 airports that could be impacted by Florence.
Fortunately, the Kwiecienskis found a flight back to Bradley International Airport Tuesday afternoon.
“We’re flying out of Fayetteville and going to Charlotte and then from Charlotte will be back home,” Kwiecienski said.
Kwiecinski said she wants to vacation again in Myrtle Beach, but she just won’t book another trip in September during hurricane season.
