Is your flight delayed? You’re not alone. Hurricane Debby disrupts airports in Florida

Hurricane Debby may have spared South Florida, but travelers felt disruptions into Monday night.

Miami International Airport had the third most cancellations on Monday afternoon among U.S. airports according to online tracker FlightAware. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport ranked sixth.

Debby made landfall near Steinhatchee as a Category 1 hurricane around 7 a.m. Monday, bringing several feet of storm surge and 80 mph sustained winds to Florida’s Big Bend region. By mid-morning Monday, Debby had weakened to a tropical storm as it headed over the Florida-Georgia border.

Still, the National Hurricane Center expects it to produce historic amounts of rain, up to 18 or 20 inches in some spots, through Thursday.

AccuWeather said on Monday “there is an extreme risk to lives and property in eastern Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina” and estimated rainfall totals surpassing 30 inches in some areas.

At FLL, the fallout from Debby meant more than 65 arriving flights were delayed and more than 53 were canceled according to the Broward airport’s flight tracker. On the departure side, 75 flights were delayed and at least 55 were canceled as of 2:30 p.m.

MIA showed signs of modest improvement on Monday. About 70 arrivals and 47 departures were canceled as of noon. On Sunday, 273 flights were canceled due to Debby, said Greg Chin, communications director for the Miami-Dade Aviation Department.

Orlando International Airport had 220 flights canceled due to weather out of 1,007 scheduled flights on Monday, said Angela Starke, an airport spokesperson.

Orlando’s airport “has remained open and operational through the inclement weather,” she said, and recommended travelers check with their airlines for flight updates.

Meanwhile, Tampa International Airport had at least 28 delayed departures and over 45 canceled flights on Monday according to its flight tracker. Among arrivals, 36 were delayed and at least 32 were canceled, according to the airport website.

Orlando and Tampa’s airports ranked first and second in the nation in number of canceled flights, according to FlightAware.

American Airlines issued a travel alert on Monday for Augusta and Savannah, Georgia and Charleston and Hilton Head, South Carolina. It said travelers going to, from or through those places would not be charged change fees. The alert provides details on eligibility.

American canceled operations on Monday in Gainesville but resumed them in Key West, Sarasota and Tallahassee, said company spokesperson Gianna Urgo. The carrier has teams evaluating conditions in Charleston and Savannah, she said. The airline had over 380 flights canceled, per FlightAware.

Delta and Delta Connection had at least 250 cancellations on Monday due to weather.

It has a waiver in place for affected customers that has details on eligibility.

Southwest flights also were disrupted on Monday. The carrier issued an advisory for travelers in affected areas and waived its change fees for them, according to Chris Perry, a Southwest spokesperson.

How can I check my flight’s status?

Miami International Airport has two online trackers you can use.

One of the flight trackers shows a list of all expected arrivals and departures with options to use a drop-down menu to narrow results. It displays the carrier, flight number and where the plane is going to or coming from. It also gives real-time updates on the flight’s arrival or departure status, which concourse the terminal is in and the location of baggage claim.

The other online tool lets you track by flight or route. If you know the carrier, the date and the flight number, this tool might be easier to use because it will only show information for your flight.

FLL’s flight tracker works by flight or route. You’ll need to know the date, along with the airline carrier and flight number or the departure and arrival airport. The tool also gives people the option to see a list of all expected arrivals and departures and details on the flight’s terminal and baggage claim, too.

Tampa International Airport — and Orlando International Airport — both have similar online trackers on their websites.

You can also check your flight status with the airline directly, which might be easier to do through the airline’s app. But you can also check via the airline’s website.

Miami Herald staff writer Alex Harris contributed to this report.

This story was originally published August 5, 2024 at 5:42 PM.