One week ago today all of our preps were done and we were waiting. So much stress building up in the days before. Our area lucky- like that ad “like it never even happened” feeling now that any cleanup, putting things back, no power loss and most things nearly normal. Living away from the water and newer infrastructure helps.
IF Maria heads our way it will be time for another northern road trip. For Irma I dreaded the time in the car, traffic et al after having done the trip 3 months ago.
I called the airlines to change the dates of my mom’s return to FL. I love SW Airlines! they have no change fees on senior priced flights! The lady told me I can just keep changing the date until we know what Maria will do.
@3scoutsmom - SW has no change fees for any flight. You do have to pay the new flight’s cost though, which could be higher. Did they freeze that for your Mom?
SW did freeze the cost of flights last week. My daughter had an $88 flight on Monday, which was cancelled (as no airports in Florida were open on Monday) and she got to use that ticket on a Wed flight. The week before when we were just trying to get her out of Florida, most SW flights were about $250 (the normal ‘week before flight’ price) and then SW dropped them.
ALL the airlines were very kind during the storm, but big kudos to JetBlue and SW.
@Greenwitch they did freeze her cost but the very nice lady told me we could cancel and re-book if the cost drops and there would be no penalty. Also we could cancel for full refund up to 10 minutes before scheduled take off! I’m really happy with SW!
My mom got a 99 flight north, but I paid about 150 to send her home (Tampa). I wonder if I could have saved a little by calling SW, but I was so happy she got the initial flight so cheaply on 1 days notice that it’s totally worth 150 now.
I hope everyone is making it back home safely.
Local island reports indicate that as of today Tim Duncan has delivered at least 4 planeloads (big planes!) of medicine, food, and other supplies, as much as 40,000 lbs per planeload, to the USVI thus far. If you’re looking for a place to donate that surely is making an impact, it seems to be a good way to go.
Folks in the USVI/BVI being told to expect up to 20 inches of rain from Maria. With vegetation stripped from Irma, the impact of that amount of rain could be worse. Debris across the islands from Irma could make the hurricane force winds from Maria, even if lesser than Irma’s, deadly. Folks living under tarps are needing to find places to shelter. The government was working on evacuations over the past 2 days but has now moved from evacuation mode to “protection and shelter” mode.
Does anyone know how to apply for help with housing etc… This isn’t for me. I read a thread on another board where someone needed help and I was surprised at how hard it was to find out (aside from FEMA or red cross) who to call? There are all these charities -but how do you let them know you need something?
