August 30, 2017

Massive flooding is also impacting other parts of the world, including Mumbai, India. Some flights have been diverted while many others were impacted by delays due to poor visibility.

Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai tweeted: “The airport is operational however we request you to confirm with your respective airline for your flight status before starting off.”

According to the UK’s Guardian:

Heavy monsoon rains have brought Mumbai to a halt for a second day as the worst floods to strike south Asia in years continued to exact a deadly toll.

More than 1,200 people have died across India, Bangladesh and Nepal as a result of flooding.

Streets in Mumbai have turned into rivers and people waded through waist-deep waters. On Tuesday, the city received about 12.7cm (5ins) of rain, paralysing public transport and leaving thousands of commuters stranded in their offices overnight.

Poor visibility and flooding also forced airport authorities to divert some flights while most were delayed by up to an hour.

The meteorological department warned that the rains would continue for the next 24 hours.

The BBC reports:

Roads were hit by waist-deep flooding, flights cancelled and train services suspended, stranding tens of thousands.

More rain is expected but the situation has improved for now, the BBC’s Suranjana Tewari says.

The rains in Mumbai follow devastating floods across a swathe of South Asia, which have killed more than 1,200.

Mumbai has seen a slow return to normalcy, although schools and offices remain closed on Wednesday.

Please contact the PR Team if you have any questions or concerns: TravelLeadersGroupPR@TravelLeaders.com.

 

August 29, 2017

Tropical Storm Harvey continues to cause massive flooding. According to the National Hurricane Center: “Harvey is expected to be just offshore of the middle and upper coasts of Texas through tonight, then move inland over the northwestern Gulf coast on Wednesday.”

Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) is closed to all commercial flights. United Airlines tweeted that IAH, one of its hubs, will remain closed until noon on Thursday. Hobby Airport, in Houston, is also closed until further notice.

Cruise lines have diverted ships and canceled sailings. Major airlines have extended their travel waivers, including: American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines. The waivers include Houston, New Orleans and San Antonio, as well as smaller airports throughout the impacted areas.

USA Today reports:

The director of the National Weather Service warned that the flooding will worsen in the coming days as an additional 20 inches of rain could fall on top of the more than 30 inches that some places have already seen.

Harvey, now drifting near the Texas coast about 40 miles east-northeast of Port O’Connor, Texas, was forecast to move back into the Gulf of Mexico Monday, the National Hurricane Center said. It will meander over the Gulf for a couple of days before making a second landfall somewhere near the Texas/Louisiana border, likely on Wednesday.

Harvey is then expected to slowly move northeast across Louisiana and Arkansas as a tropical depression from Thursday into Saturday.

According to Cruise Critic:

Carnival will be rerouting all three of its ships that were currently scheduled for Galveston — Carnival Breeze, Carnival Valor and Carnival Freedom — to New Orleans over the next few days, where passengers will be allowed to disembark and make independent arrangements to travel home. Passengers also have the option to stay onboard for the return to Galveston. All three ships will head toward Galveston after Wednesday to be in position to dock, once the port opens.

All sailings this week for Carnival Valor, Carnival Freedom and Carnival Breeze have been canceled, including Valor’s Aug 31 departure. A full refund will be provided to passengers who were scheduled to be on the cruises, as well as a 25 percent future cruise credit if booked within the next 60 days. See below for more details.

Royal Caribbean had originally planned to debark passengers on Liberty of the Seas late on Sunday and embark new cruisers on Monday. But the port remained closed, and Royal Caribbean had no choice but to find an alternative.

An official statement from Royal Caribbean regarding the Liberty of the Seas includes:

Liberty of the Seas will arrive in Miami, Florida on Tuesday morning instead to reprovision the ship. Liberty of the Seas will then return to Galveston on Friday, September 1. Guests on Liberty of the Seas will have the option to disembark in Miami, if they desire.

Due to the delays, the August 27 sailing of Liberty of the Seas is cancelled.

Please contact the PR Team if you have any questions or concerns: TravelLeadersGroupPR@TravelLeaders.com.

Travel Leaders • 3033 Campus Drive Ste W320 • Plymouth, MN 55441

August 28, 2017

“Harvey” made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane and has caused “epic and catastrophic flooding” according to the National Weather Service.

Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport is closed. It’s official Twitter account states: “All commercial flight operations have been stopped until further notice. IB/OB roads are closed due to flooding.”

A similar Twitter message has been posted for Hobby Airport in Houston: “All commercial operations at Hobby Airport have ceased until further notice. No flights in/out and roadways in/out are closed.”

Major airlines are offering travel waivers, including: American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines.

Reuters reports:

Tropical Storm Harvey was set to dump more rain on Houston on Monday, worsening flooding that has paralyzed the country’s fourth-largest city, forced thousands to flee surrounding counties and swelled rivers to levels not seen in centuries.

Harvey, the most powerful hurricane to hit Texas in more than 50 years, first hit land late on Friday and has killed at least two people. It has since stayed around Texas’ Gulf of Mexico Coast, where it is forecast to remain for several more days, drenching parts of the region with a year’s worth of rain in the span of a week.

Schools, airports and office buildings in Houston were ordered shut on Monday as scores of roads turned into rivers and chest-high water filled neighborhoods in the low-lying city that is home to about 2.3 million people.

According to CNN:

Swollen rivers in east Texas aren’t expected to crest until later this week, but federal officials are already predicting Harvey will drive 30,000 people into shelters and spur 450,000 to seek some sort of disaster assistance.

Several locales have already received 2 feet or more of rain, and forecasters say a reprieve won’t arrive till week’s end at the earliest.

“This is a landmark event for Texas,” said FEMA Administrator Brock Long. “Texas has never seen an event like this.”

Harvey will likely surpass 2008’s Hurricane Ike and 2001’s Tropical Storm Allison, two of the most destructive storms to hit the Gulf coast in recent memory.

Around 13 million people are under flood watches and warnings stretching from Corpus Christi to New Orleans as the remnants of Hurricane Harvey menace the already drenched Texas and Louisiana.

“Catastrophic and life-threatening flooding” continues in southeastern Texas, where bands of storm have been repeatedly pummeling the same areas.

Over the next few days, Tropical Storm Harvey is forecast to head back into the Gulf of Mexico, where it will pick up moisture before moving back over Galveston and into Houston again, CNN meteorologist Karen Maginnis says, meaning at least four more days of rain.

Please contact the PR Team if you have any questions or concerns: TravelLeadersGroupPR@TravelLeaders.com.

 

August 24, 2017

Tropical Storm Harvey is currently churning through the Gulf of Mexico.

Harvey is expected to become a hurricane by Friday, and the National Hurricane Center has issued a Hurricane Warning for parts of Texas.

Airlines have begun offering travel waivers, including: American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines.

According to the National Hurricane Center:

SUMMARY OF WATCHES AND WARNINGS IN EFFECT:

A Hurricane Warning is in effect for…

* Port Mansfield to Matagorda Texas

A Hurricane Watch is in effect for…

* South of Port Mansfield Texas to the Mouth of the Rio Grande

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for…

* North of Matagorda to High Island Texas

* South of Port Mansfield Texas to the Mouth of the Rio Grande

A Tropical Storm Watch is effect for…

* South of the Mouth of the Rio Grande to Boca de Catan Mexico

A Storm Surge Warning is in effect for…

* Port Mansfield to San Luis Pass Texas

A Storm Surge Watch is in effect for…

* South of Port Mansfield Texas to the Mouth of the Rio Grande

* North of San Luis Pass to High Island Texas

DISCUSSION AND 48-HOUR OUTLOOK

——————————

Harvey is moving toward the north-northwest

near 10 mph (17 km/h). A track toward the northwest or

north-northwest at a faster forward speed is expected for the next

48 hours. On the forecast track, Harvey will approach the southern

Texas coast on Friday.

An Air Force Reserve aircraft reports that the maximum sustained

winds have increased to near 60 mph (95 km/h) with higher gusts.

Additional strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours, and

Harvey is expected to become a hurricane by Friday.

Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 115 miles (185 km)

from the center.

HAZARDS AFFECTING LAND

———————-

RAINFALL: Harvey is expected to produce total rain accumulations of

10 to 15 inches with isolated maximum amounts of 25 inches over the

Texas coast through next Wednesday. During the same time period

Harvey is expected to produce total rain accumulations of 3 to 9

inches along its outer radius including parts of south, central, and

eastern Texas and the lower Mississippi Valley. Rainfall from Harvey

may cause life-threatening flooding.

STORM SURGE: The combination of a dangerous storm surge and the

tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by

rising waters moving inland from the shoreline. The water is

expected to reach the following heights above ground if the peak

surge occurs at the time of high tide…

Port Mansfield to San Luis Pass…5 to 7 ft

San Luis Pass to High Island…2 to 4 ft

Mouth of the Rio Grande to Port Mansfield…2 to 4 ft Travel Leaders • 3033 Campus Drive Ste W320 • Plymouth, MN 55441

WIND: Hurricane conditions are likely within the hurricane warning

area late Friday or Friday night, with tropical storm conditions

expected to first reach the coast in the hurricane warning area

Friday.

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August 22, 2017

Travel Alert – Minneapolis: MSP Airport Down to One Security Checkpoint

General airline passengers traveling to or from MSP International Airport will only have access to one (1) security lane for the next three weeks.

Travelers should plan to arrive at least two hours prior to any domestic flight. TSA Precheck will remain available at all check points.

According to the MSP International Airport’s website:

Beginning Tuesday, Aug. 22, Terminal 1-Lindbergh’s South Security Checkpoint at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport will partially close while new automated security equipment is installed. Lanes that remain open will be for TSA Pre-Check users only.

Construction and testing of the automated security lanes will take approximately three weeks. The work was timed to occur after the busy summer travel season to minimize disruption to travelers. Passengers continue to be advised to arrive at the airport two hours before a domestic flight or three hours before an international flight.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune is reporting:

Passengers flying out of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport may need extra time to pass through security as all the general lanes at the south security checkpoint in Terminal 1 will be closed for the next three weeks.

Lanes at the South checkpoint used by TSA Pre-Check passengers will stay open while all other passengers will be directed to use the North checkpoint, airport officials said.

Starting Tuesday, crews will begin installing four “innovation lanes,” which will automate many of the functions currently done manually. During construction, passengers are advised to arrive two hours early for domestic flights and three hours for international flights.

Delta Air Lines, the dominant carrier at the airport, requested that the lanes be added to the south security checkpoint.

Automated security lanes will be added to the north checkpoint next year.

Automated security lanes debuted last spring at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport. Since then, innovation lanes have been installed in Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, along with Miami, Los Angeles, Dallas-Fort Worth, Newark, N.J., and Phoenix.

Please contact the PR Team if you have any questions or concerns: TravelLeadersGroupPR@TravelLeaders.com.

 

August 22, 2017

Travel Alert – Philadelphia: Train Crash Injures Over 40 Passengers

Overnight, a high speed train crashed outside of Philadelphia injuring more than 40 passengers.

Regularly scheduled service resumed this morning; however, one of the tracks is not operational at this time.

According to ABC News:

More than 40 people were injured on Tuesday after a high-speed train made contact with an unoccupied parked train outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, according to official with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority.

The incident happened just after midnight at a transportation terminal in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, located about 30 minutes west of Philadelphia, a SEPTA spokeswoman said.

Forty-two people, including the train’s operator, sustained non-life-threatening injuries in the accident, according to the spokeswoman.

The spokesperson did not say exactly how the trains made contact, but she said the incident involved two trains, including an inbound train on SEPTA’s Norristown High Speed line.

According to NBC-TV in Philadelphia:

SEPTA officials say a Norristown High Speed Line train was arriving at the 69th Street Transportation Center on Market Street in Upper Darby around 12:10 a.m. Tuesday when it crashed into an unoccupied train that was sitting in the terminal.

At least 42 people — including the conductor — were injured in the crash. SEPTA officials say none of the injuries are life-threatening. At least four of the victims are in critical condition.

This is the second major train incident at the 69th Street Terminal this year.

Norristown High Speed Line service between 69th Street and Norristown resumed as regularly scheduled at 4:20 a.m. Tuesday. One of the tracks is not operational however so passengers should expect delays. Express service is also shut down for the day.

Please contact the PR Team if you have any questions or concerns: TravelLeadersGroupPR@TravelLeaders.com.

 

August 22, 2017

Travel Alert – Italy: Earthquake Strikes Island of Ischia

A 4.3 magnitude earthquake struck the Italian island of Ischia, just off the coast of Naples. Ischia is a popular tourist destination for Europeans on holiday.

Reuters is reporting:

An earthquake hit the tourist-packed holiday island of Ischia on Monday night, killing two people, injuring dozens and trapping three young brothers who survived for up to 16 hours before being rescued.

Tourists and residents on the island off the coast of Naples ran out onto the narrow streets after the quake wrecked a church and several buildings. Fearing aftershocks, many decided to leave the island early.

Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology put the magnitude at 4.0, revising it up from an initial 3.6, but both the U.S. Geological Survey and the European quake agency estimated it at 4.3.

Most of the damage was in the high part of the volcanic island. Hotels and residences on the coast did not appear to suffer serious damage but fire brigades were checking to see if they were still habitable.

The island has a year-round population of about 63,000, which swells to more than 200,000 in summer, with many people from the mainland owning holiday homes.

According to the BBC:

Ischia, off the coast of Naples, has a population of about 50,000 and is hugely popular with tourists, many of whom were out in bars and restaurants when the shaking started.

[The earthquake] struck at 20:57, at a depth of around 5km (3 miles), just north of the Casamicciola commune. At least two women died and 39 people were injured in the quake.

Extra ferries, from Naples to Ischia, were laid on during the night to bring more rescue workers to the island and allow holidaymakers to leave. Dozens of people are said to have ended their holidays early and Italian media said some tourists were sleeping on benches waiting for boats to arrive.

Please contact the PR Team if you have any questions or concerns: TravelLeadersGroupPR@TravelLeaders.com.

 

August 18, 2017

Today, at least a dozen people were killed and possibly more than 80 injured when a van deliberately drove through a popular pedestrian area of Barcelona.

The incident is being investigated as a terrorist attack. Two men have been arrested in connection with the attack, but the driver is still at large.

The UK’s Guardian reports:

Thirteen people are dead and at least 50 injured after a van rammed into a crowded street in the heart of Barcelona, in the latest attack where a vehicle was turned into a lethal weapon.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, which took place on Thursday afternoon when a large white Fiat van veered off the road at the top of La Rambla into a crowd of unsuspecting people. Within an hour, Spanish police confirmed they were treating it as a terrorist attack.

Later on Thursday evening, police said two suspected attackers had been arrested. A Catalan police official was quoted by Reuters as saying one of the arrested men was Moroccan and the other was from Melilla, a Spanish enclave in north Africa, and that neither of them was the driver of the van used in the attack.

La Rambla is the boulevard known to all visitors to Barcelona. Leading down from the large, open Plaza de Catalunya, the tree-lined boulevard is a shady release from the beating heat of the square.

At almost any time of the day, the area is full of people buying newspapers, postcards and souvenirs in the kiosks or looking at the flower stalls. Early on Thursday afternoon, with locals mostly away on holiday, a large number of those people were tourists.

At around 5pm, a large white Fiat van veered off the road at the top of the street and drove straight into the crowd milling around near the entrance to the Plaça de Catalunya metro station.

It sped down the central, pedestrian zone of the boulevard towards the port, ploughing its way through the crowd as people fled in panic.

About 500 metres down the boulevard, shortly after the famous Boqueria food market and before the Liceu opera house, the pavement is adorned with a colourful mosaic by artist Joan Miró. It was at here that the van, with its front fender smashed up, came to a halt. The pavement behind it was littered with injured people and 13 people were dead or dying.

According to Reuters:

A van mowed through crowds of tourists on Barcelona’s most famous avenue on Thursday, killing about a dozen people in an attack that was claimed by Islamic State.

The head of the Spanish region of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, said at least 80 people had been taken to hospital and around 12 had died.

He said two people had been arrested. It was still not clear how many attackers had been involved.

Witnesses said the white van zigzagged at high speed down Las Ramblas, a busy avenue thronged with tourists, knocking down pedestrians and leaving bodies strewn across the ground.

Islamic State’s Amaq news agency said: “The perpetrators of the Barcelona attack are soldiers of the Islamic State and carried out the operation in response to calls for targeting coalition states” – a reference to a U.S.-led coalition against the Sunni militant group. The claim could not immediately be verified.

The incident took place at the height of the tourist season in Barcelona, which is one of Europe’s top travel destinations with at least 11 million visitors a year.

The U.S. Embassy & Consulate in Spain has issued a Security Message:

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August 11, 2017

Brisbane’s Metro North Public Health Unit confirmed at least 91 cases of norovirus aboard a recent Sun Princess cruise.

The ship docked yesterday morning after a 10-day cruise of the South Pacific.

According to Travel Agent:

Princess Cruises’ Sun Princess was hit by a norovirus outbreak on a recent South Pacific cruise out of Brisbane, Australia.

The first case was reported on day one of the cruise, suggesting that the illness was introduced to the ship during embarkation in Brisbane, a Princess Cruises representative tells Travel Agent.

“Consistent with public health alerts that norovirus and influenza are widespread in the general community in Australia’s eastern states, New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland, proactive and successful steps were taken on board Sun Princess to limit any spread of the illness,” a Princess Cruises representative said. “Out of an abundance of caution in the light of the public health alerts, deep cleansing was conducted on the ship and in the terminal for the ship’s turnaround in Brisbane on August 9.”

Sun Princess’ next cruise is a seven-night itinerary out of Brisbane departing August 20, with calls at Airlie Beach, Cairns, Port Douglas and Willis Island.

ABC News in Australia reports:

As many as 91 [passengers] have been struck down by a norovirus aboard the Sun Princess cruise ship, which experienced back-to-back norovirus outbreaks in February.

The Sun Princess can carry 2,010 passengers and 924 crew.

A Carnival spokesman would not confirm numbers afflicted with norovirus on the latest cruise, but said the virus was currently widespread in the general community in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.

“Proactive and successful steps were taken on board Sun Princess to limit any spread of the illness,” he said.

The spokesman said “out of abundance of caution”, deep cleansing was conducted on the ship and in the terminal for the ship’s turnaround in Brisbane on Thursday.

That had resulted in a slight delay in the ship’s scheduled departure.

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