Hurricane already being felt in Ohio
Ohio Task Force 1 is ready to go; many travel plans in limbo.
Hurricane Irma made her presence felt in southwest Ohio on Wednesday, despite being more than 1,800 miles away in the Caribbean.
Local emergency crews, travelers and airlines all geared up for the massive hurricane’s potential landfall on the U.S. mainland over the weekend, coming after Hurricane Harvey caused major damage to Houston and other areas of Texas in late August.
Ohio Task Force 1, a FEMA-regulated response team based in Dayton, is prepared for redeployment to assist in relief efforts, a week and a half after being stationed in Katy, Texas, in response to Harvey.
Phil Sinewe, public information officer for Task Force 1, said the team could, if needed, redeploy for Irma as soon as 24 hours after returning from the assignment in Texas.
Sinewe said t he team would have a Type-I deployment, nearly doubling the total of rescuers it sent to Texas to between 80 to 85 men and women. FEMA, who determines Task Force 1’s deployment, will stage the team somewhere in a safe location outside poten
tially impacted areas, until it’s time to mobilize.
The nearly 50 mem- bers who traveled to Texas returned to Ohio around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday and will await instructions on the possible redeployment. Because Irma hasn’t made landfall and has an unpre-
dictable trajectory, Sinewe said where the group ulti- mately ends up is unknown. “All bets are off,” he said. For now, first responders are glad to be home and with
their families after having spent so much time away.
“It’s obviously good to be back home,” Joey Huggins, Task Force 1 member, said. “Everybody is anxious to get back and see their families and get back to normal routine for us.” Task Force 1 members and their families weren’t the only ones having to adjust schedules for Category 5 Hurricane Irma.
Anyone who had plans to travel to the Caribbean or Bahamas, or even the
Florida Keys, was advised to contact travel agents or
airlines as soon as possible to find out if — and by how much — those plans are to be changed.
“Check with your travel agent your airline and your hotel and your insurance provider and really moni- tor the situation if you are thinking of cancelling. I think you need to check in with us to see what those cancellation policies entail,”
said Suzanne Aresco, AAA’s director of travel.
Aresco said airlines are “being very generous” with customers, offering a refund on flights or the option to reschedule.
Jennifer Neptune, who was visiting family in Dayton, had her flight to Brazil rescheduled and rerouted with the storm in the path of her flight.
“It’s rough because you don’t want to get stressed about it, but you’re anxious because you want to get where you need to go and you know people are waiting for you on the other end,” Neptune said.
Airports in Florida were already shutting down as Gov. Rick Scott declared a state of emergency in all 67 counties. Key West Interna- tional shut down commer- cial flights Wednesday night
with more expected to follow suit.
As Florida braces for the impact of Hurricane Irma, local flights have been delayed and cancelled in preparation.
Irma remained a category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds at 185 mph, and with the potential to hit Florida, it could cause more chaos for the airline
industry, which still recovering from delays and cancellations because of Hurricane Harvey.
On Wednesday morning, approximately 913 flights in the U.S. had been cancelled and approximately 4,886 delays were issued across the country. Houston Bush International Airport and Newark Liberty Interna-
tional Airport had the most cancellations and delays on Tuesday, while Puerto Rico’s Luis Munoz Marin International Airport topped the list with 80 cancellations on Wednesday.
Local aviation expert Jay Ratliff advised that travelers should check to see if their flight is on time before they leave for the airport. Because the storm are “an act of God,” airlines won’t reschedule flights for free on other airlines, pay for hotels or give food vouchers, he said.
Most flights out of the Dayton International Airport and the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport have not been impacted yet, but local airports could see more delays as Irma makes its way to Florida.