August 31, 2017

A storm off the coast of Mexico has now gained enough strength to become Tropical Storm Lidia.

According to the National Hurricane Center, its “Moving toward the Baja California peninsula [and] conditions will deteriorate across southern Baja California Sur through the day.”

Cabo San Lucas is in the path of the storm and major airlines are offering travel waivers including: American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines.

NHC: SUMMARY OF WATCHES AND WARNINGS IN EFFECT:

A Hurricane Watch is in effect for…

* Baja California Sur from Puerto Cortes to east of La Paz

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for…

* Baja California Sur from Puerto San Andresito to Loreto

* mainland Mexico from Bahia Tempehuaya to Guaymas

A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for…

* Baja California Sur north of Puerto San Andresito to Punta

Abreojos

* Baja California Sur north of Loreto to Bahia San Juan Bautista

* mainland Mexico north of Guaymas to Bahia Kino

DISCUSSION AND 48-HOUR OUTLOOK

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

On the forecast track, the center of Lidia will be near the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula this afternoon, and it will move over the peninsula Friday and Friday night.

Maximum sustained winds are near 45 mph (75 km/h) with higher

gusts. Strengthening is forecast before Lidia’s center reaches the

Baja California peninsula.

Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 160 miles (260 km)

to the east of the center.

HAZARDS AFFECTING LAND

———————-

RAINFALL: Lidia is expected to produce total rain accumulations of

8 to 12 inches across the Mexican states of Baja California Sur and

western Jalisco, with isolated maximum totals of 20 inches. In the

Mexican states of Sinaloa, Nayarit, Colima, southern Michoacan,

southern Sonora, and central Jalisco, rainfall amounts of 3 to 6

inches are expected. These rains are expected to cause

life-threatening flash floods and mudslides.

WIND: Tropical storm conditions are expected to first reach the

coast within the warning area in Baja California Sur later this

morning, making outside preparations difficult or dangerous.

Hurricane conditions are possible within the hurricane watch area

late today. Tropical storm conditions are expected in the warning

area in mainland Mexico starting later today or tonight. Tropical

storm conditions are possible in the watch areas late Friday.

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

August 31, 2017

Houston’s two major airports, George Bush Intercontinental Airport and William P Hobby Airport, have reopened. Flights continue to be limited as Hurricane Harvey recovery continues and major airlines are still offering travel waivers, including: American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines.

According to The Houston Chronicle:

Houston’s airports began trudging back into operation Wednesday, with the first commercial traffic in three days offering a faint symbol of recovery from the devastation of Hurricane Harvey.

United Airlines and Delta Air Lines started service and others are expected to soon follow suit. But so far, it’s just a trickle. United, which has a major hub at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, is initially scheduling three daily arrivals and three departures. On a typical day, 480 United flights take off.

USA Today reports:

Nationwide, more than 1,400 flights were grounded for Thursday, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware. Another 1,120 had already been preemptively canceled on Friday with 42 more already scrubbed from Saturday’s schedules. Nearly all of those came on flights to or from Houston.

During a span stretching back to Friday, when Harvey first began affecting flights, more than 10,600 airline flights have been canceled – most because of Harvey. Of that total, more than 9,000 cancellations have come from the two Houston airports alone, according to FlightAware.

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

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.