Bracing for Major Hurricane Irene

High above the Earth from aboard the International Space Station,
astronaut Ron Garan snapped this image of Hurricane Irene
as it passed over the Caribbean on Aug. 22, 2011.                  Credit: NASA

Major Hurricane Irene

Continues to Impact

Cruise Schedules

East Coast Bracing 

for Landfall

For the second weekend in a row, Irene, now a Major Hurricane, is dominating the weather and causing local governments and the entire travel industry to scramble to revise schedules to keep property and people safe from harm.

Atlantic Graphical Tropical Weather Outlook

Not the storm you are looking for?  Click Image or Here

200 PM EDT SUN AUG 28 2011

...CENTER OF IRENE MOVING OVER SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND...

Warnings Issued for Hurricane Irene -- See this post for current warnings, location, hazards, and other updates

      CURRENT WARNINGS       TRAVEL ADVISORIES        StormScape LIVE    

      INTERACTIVE TRACKING      CANADA HURRICANE CENTRE

Despite Hurricane Irene's weakening to a Category One status, it is still packing quite a punch and has local governments scrambling to keep property and residents safe.   The NHC is warning that all of the tropical cyclone Hazards:  Wind, heavy Rainfall, Storm Surge, Surf, and Tornadoes are forecast.

Hurricane of the Century

The GOES-13 satellite saw Hurricane Irene
on August 27, 2011 at 10:10 a.m. EDT
after it made landfall at 8 a.m. in Cape Lookout, NC.
Irene's outer bands had already extended into New England.
(Credit: NASA/NOAA GOES Project)
Click image for more dramatic images of Hurricane Irene

Many are referring to Hurricane Irene as the storm of the century.   Mandatory evacuations have begun for parts of the eastern seaboard of the United States.  The picture above, courtesy of NASA, shows why there is this great concern.   The hurricane is massive!  As we write this article, Irene is a Category Three Hurricane with winds in excess of 115 MPH.   Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 80 miles from the center and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 290 miles.

Ten States Declare Emergencies - Mandatory Evacuations Across the Region
Transportation Systems Shut Down

Irene will move northwest and approach the North Carolina Coast this weekend before continuing its journey north, skimming the Mid-Atlantic coast with possible landfall in New England.

Fifty-five million people are potentially in Hurricane Irene's path, from the Carolinas to Cape Cod on the U.S. East Coast, and tens of thousands are evacuating as cities including New York brace for the powerful storm to hit.

NYC Unprecedented Evacuation / Transit Shutdown

As powerful Hurricane Irene makes it way up the East Coast of the United States, New York City ordered nearly 300,000 people to evacuate flood-prone areas and subways.  The New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has begun a full system shutdown.  Philadelphia and New Jersey will also shut down on Saturday.

It was the first time the nation's largest city was evacuated. Never before has the entire mass transit system been shuttered because of a storm.  New York city has not seen a storm of this magnitude in decades.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he was confident people would get out of the storm's way.

"Waiting until the last minute is not a smart thing to do," Bloomberg said. "This is life-threatening."

President Obama spoke with reporters from the farm where he is vacationing on an island off the Boston coast.  He will be leaving the area on Saturday well ahead of the storm.

"All indications point to this being a historic hurricane," 

"I cannot stress this highly enough. If you are in the projected path of this hurricane, you have to take precautions now. Don't wait. Don't delay," Obama said.

Cruise Ship Travel Alerts

This past week, many cruises had their itineraries altered to outrun the storm.   In most cases, port orders were changed or in some cases, Bahamas ports were swapped for Western Caribbean ports.

As the weekend approaches and the hurricane bears down on many of the homeports along the east coast, ships are racing to arrive ahead of the storm.  Several itineraries have been modified to cut the current cruise short, arriving in the homeport as much as a day early.  Some ships will delay arrivals until Monday. Departures for weekend cruises vary by port with some scheduled on time while others departing a day or more late. 

Ports impacted:  Baltimore, Bayonne New Jersey, Boston, New York, 

Travel Advisory Links:

Major Cruise Ship Impact  <---- click here for latest updates

Carnival Tropical Storm Irene - Itinerary Updates
RCI Tropical Weather Update
NCL Tropical Weather Updates 
Holland America Travel Advisories
Celebrity Cruises Travel Advisories  

Real-Time Cruise Ship Tracking

NOAA Hurricane Central 

Airline Travel Advisories

Major airlines -- including US Airways, American, United Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta, JetBlue, Southwest Airlines and AirTran -- have dropped ticket change fees for passengers scheduled to fly to or from many cities along the East Coast this weekend. 

Airlines canceled more than 9,000 flights for the weekend and another 250 on Monday, according to the online flight tracking service Flightaware.com.

Check directly with your airline carrier for latest cancellation information

Additional Travel Woes

Transit systems in New York City, Philadelphia and New Jersey   shut down on Saturday.

Amtrak Cancels More East Coast Trains in Advance of Hurricane Irene

Greyhound has canceled or delayed a number of routes because of the storm.

Hurricane Preparedness

Each year NHC, FEMA, and other government agencies host several events to raise awareness about the dangers of tropical storms and hurricanes.  See our Hurricane Zone for links to articles we published in conjunction with this year's Hurricane Preparedness Week as well as those from past years.  For those planning to sail this weekend, be sure to read Hurricane Preparedness for Cruisers

We will continue to monitor this major hurricane and post updates.  Hurricane Zone will point to the latest information.   We have provided several links which provide up to the minute news, forecasts, advisories.

Disaster Prevention should include:

•  Developing a Family Plan
•  Creating a Disaster Supply Kit
•  Having a Place to Go
•  Securing your Home
•  Having a Pet Plan

"How To" guides for protecting your property from flooding &amp; high winds. (FEMA)

Grímsvötn Volcano Causes Travel Woes

Grímsvötn eruption

Credit: Institute of Earth Sciences

Widespread Flight Cancellations 

Possible as Ash Continues

UPDATE:  25 May -- Bremen & Hamburg (no flights) - Could Impact Berlin & Poland

According to the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre(VAAC) in London, areas of ash concentration are over the north of Germany. Currently no flights are being accepted into Bremen and Hamburg. On a normal day, these airports would expect around 120 and 480 flights respectively.  

The ash cloud is expected to move during the day and could affect Berlin and also parts of Poland. Airports in Germany south of Bremen are not expected to be affected.

There are no restrictions on flights in any other part of Europe. According to the VAAC forecasts, it is expected that ash cloud coverage will dissipate during the day.

Related Blog Post ... Iceland Volcanic Ash Grounds Flights

Reminiscent of a year ago, airlines and air traffic controllers across Europe continue to watch and monitor as a cloud of volcanic ash spreads west from Iceland, threatening to disrupt flights on a wide scale.

The ash cloud was expected to reach London's Heathrow airport -- the world's busiest international air travel hub -- this afternoon, Europe's air traffic control organization Eurocontrol said.

Concentration of ash there is expected to be low and it's not yet clear if Heathrow flights will be canceled.

The ash cloud is forecast to cover all of British airspace by 1 a.m. Wednesday morning.

It will be densest over Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England, the Met Office said. Heathrow is in the south.

United Kingdom  

• Some flights have been cancelled to and from Leeds Bradford and Humberside Airports today 
• Some flights have been cancelled to Scotland and Northern Ireland at Leeds Bradford Airport
• Eastern Airways has cancelled Aberdeen flights to and from Humberside Airport.
• Disruptions at Newcastle and Durham Tees Valley airports
• Some flight cancellations at both Newcastle and Durham Tees Valley airports, although the airports themselves remain open
• Morning flights to Aberdeen from Durham Tees Valley as well as later departures to Southampton were cancelled
• At Newcastle Airport, flights to and from Amsterdam, Paris, Brussels, Faro and Malta were cancelled.

Scotland

• Edinburgh airport is open but passengers are advised to contact their airlines before travelling to the airport. Forecasters say that high density ash is likely from 1pm to 6pm today although disruption may spread into the night. 
• Glasgow airport is also open and is not expecting any disruption today. 
• Inverness airport remains closed. 
• Aberdeen airport is hoping to resume operations from 1pm onwards although there will still be considerable delays and cancellations throughout the day.

Svalbard

• Flights have been cancelled to and from Svalbard. It is unknown when flights will resume.

Denmark

• Danish authorities have closed the airspace below 4 miles in the northwest of the country. 
• This does not directly affect airports but Copenhagen airport is experiencing some delays and cancellations, primarily to Scotland and Greenland destinations, although these are expected to clear by 8.00pm today. 

Northern Ireland 

• Flights are halted into and out of Scotland and the north-east of England. 
• Easyjet flights from Belfast International Airport to Glasgow and Edinburgh have been cancelled. 
• Two flights between Belfast and Newcastle and Newcastle and Belfast have also been cancelled. 
• Two Loganair flights between Belfast City Airport and Dundee will also remain grounded.

Norway 

• Both Stavanger and Karmoey airports have been affected with flights being cancelled as the cloud is expected to spread to the south of the country later today. 

Contact your airline if you are flying in the impacted areas.  

Met Office forecasts for the end of this week indicate mainly low levels of ash affecting parts of UK and Europe. This forecast does depend on the status of the Volcano since the wind direction and strength will remain variable. You should stay up to date with the latest advice from the Met Office. How this affects flight routing decisions would be determined by CAA and NATS together with the individual airlines.

 Eruption in Iceland: News | Update | Vatnajökull monitoring | Volcanic ash advisory |

• Photos from the Eruption
   
• Satellite Images and Maps

Current Volcanic Ash Advisories (VAA) from London and Toulouse 

London VAA: Issued advisories | Issued graphics     Toulouse VAA: Issued advisories

Latest Ash Impact on Flights Keflavik International Airport  Heathrow airport Ash Concentration UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) EUROCONTROL Icelandic MetOffice (IMO) National Air Traffic Control Service (Nats) Track Flights Live Over Europe

Icelandic volcano pictures, blogs, and other links Volcano halts Icelandic flights (BBC) Latest UK Met Office News Grímsvötn volcano FAQ  Grímsvötn volcanic ash observations Forecasters’ blog  British Geological Survey (BGS) Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Iceland NOAA Satellite and Information Service More information from NOAA about volcanoes EUMETSAT - Monitoring weather and climate from space (volcanic ash page) NASA Earth Observatory - images, stories, discoveries about climate and the environment

Potential Travel Woes for Europe

Cabin crew dispute - ballot result

UPDATE:  MAY 13, 2011 --  CABIN DISPUTE IS OVER

British Airways and Unite, the union representing the majority of cabin crew, reached an agreement to settle the dispute.  The members need to vote, but with the support of the union leaders, the agreement is expected to pass.    This ends the potential threat which could have impacted cruise vacations for the summer holiday months.



Last April, Europe's airspace was empty for days on end due to the volcano in Iceland.   This year, British airspace could once again be void of the usual number of planes if the threatened strike action against British Airways proceeds.

Are You Covered?

As always, our recommendation is to purchase Travel Insurance for your cruise vacation. It may not be too late to take out travel insurance, but check the policy carefully for any clauses on industrial action.  If you have any doubts after reading the policy, check with the insurance company directly to be certain you are covered.

British Airways Plans

British Airways has the following statement posted on their website:

Last updated: 12:00, Tuesday 29 March 2011 (UK time)

Unite, the trade union for British Airways cabin crew, has announced that its strike ballot has closed in favour of strike action.

Unite has not set any dates for the proposed strike action and we remain in talks with them.
If a strike does take place, we have strong contingency plans in place. We will:

• Operate a normal schedule at London Gatwick and London City
• Aim to fly 100 per cent of our longhaul flights to and from London Heathrow
• Aim to fly the majority of our shorthaul flights to and from London Heathrow

More details on our contingency plans

As all our flights are operating as normal at the moment, any changes to bookings are subject to the original fare rules.  Unite must give seven days’ notice of any proposed strike action.

Busy Easter Holiday Time

Could Easter Holiday travel be impacted?   The strike vote was held on March 28th, and any action must be taken within 28 days, or a new ballot would be required.   Since the 28-day period from the last ballot ends on Easter Monday, April 25, there definitely is a chance holiday travel could be impacted.   This year, there are an unprecedented four bank holidays (thanks to the extra one for the royal wedding).

Cruise Line Contingencies 

Royal Caribbean International and other cruise lines, that will be operating ships in Europe at the time, are putting plans in place to help stranded passengers connect with their ships.   In the past, the cruise line has re-booked flights on other carriers or found alternate transport means for their guests on fly-cruise packages.

Unless the strike occurs later, the impact on cruises will be minimal as the ships will just be transitioning from the Caribbean starting in April.   May and June will be the kick-off of the busy Mediterranean cruise season, so any action that takes place later, could impact those passengers.

The fact that the British Airways still plans to fly the long-haul flights, even if a strike occurs, should lessen the impact on overseas guests.

We will monitor this situation, and publish additional details, should the situation drastically change.