Helene Update: Now a Tropical Storm After Slamming Florida on Thursday

After slamming Florida’s Big Bend Coast on Thursday evening, Hurricane Helene weakened to a tropical storm as it moves farther over Georgia on Friday morning.

As of 6 a.m. EST, the storm was 40 miles east of Macon, Georgia, and about 100 miles southeast of Atlanta. The National Hurricane Center is forecasting the storm to turn north, moving over central and northeastern Georgia on Friday morning before moving over the Tennessee Valley later today and Saturday.

Warning and watches

The NHC has discontinued all hurricane and tropical storm warnings along the Florida east coast south of the Flagler/Volusia county line and along the Florida west coast south of the Suwannee River.

Just a few warnings remain in effect:

• A Storm Surge Warning for the area from India Pass to Bonita Beach and for Tampa Bay.
• A Tropical Storm Warning for the area from the mouth of the Suwannee River to Indian Pass and the Flagler/Volusia county line northward to Little River Inlet.

Tampa International Airport reopens

Tampa International Airport (TPA), which shut its doors at 2 a.m. on Thursday morning,  reopened just before 10 a.m. on Friday morning, as the city of Tampa continues to dig its way out of the damage caused by Hurricane Helene.

The storm brought a record storm surge to St. Petersburg, forcing officials to close access to Clearwater Beach, and leaving thousands of residents without power. Authorities in the city are advising residents to remain sheltered in place as most of the bridges are closed and traffic signals are out on Friday morning.

It is largely wait-and-see in the city as of Friday morning. TPA sis resuming flights but passengers should check with their airlines regarding flight schedules.

“After working diligently to protect the safety of our travelers, employees and facilities, TPA has fared well through this large and dangerous storm,” Tampa International Airport CEO Joe Lopano said. “We now can turn our attention to serving our community and travelers and assisting in efforts to help our fellow Floridians recover from Helene.”

Friday flight disruptions

Flight cancellations are piling up as airports reassess Friday morning options. Here are the hubs with the most impact as of early on Friday:

• Tampa (TPA) which reopened: 92 departures were canceled (36% of the schedule), and another 25 were delayed.
• Charlotte/Douglas International (CLT), which is open: 128 departures canceled (14% of its schedule), another 187 delayed.
• Hartsfield-Jackson International (ATL): 57 departures canceled (4% of its schedule), another 73 delayed.
• Jacksonville International (JAX): 25 departures canceled (23% of its schedule), another 2 delayed.

Some smaller airports, particularly in Florida, are also still operating with very limited schedules, including Augusta Regional (AGS), Gainesville Regional (GNV), Northwest Florida Beaches International (ECP), and Sarasota Bradenton International (SRQ).

All those airports continue to tell passengers to check their flight status with their airline before coming to the airport.

Cruise ship changes, Jacksonville and Port Canaveral reopen

Both Port Canaveral and JAXPORT (Jacksonville) have reopened to cruise traffic, while inspections are underway at Port Tampa Bay.

Five cruise lines were impacted by the storm, with three being forced to extend sailings due to port closures.

Carnival Cruise Line

Carnival Paradise replaced its planned visit to Cozumel today with Costa Maya, while Carnival Valor’s visit to Cozumel was simply canceled. Carnival Paradise’s return to Tampa on Thurs., Sept. 26 will not be possible and Carnival has tentatively set a return of “sometime” on Fri., Sept. 27.

Carnival Breeze also canceled its stop in Cozumel — scheduled for this Thursday — and replaced it with a visit to Progreso.

Carnival Horizon’s visit to Grand Cayman on Wednesday was canceled. The ship’s visit to Cozumel on Thursday was canceled and replaced by a visit to Amber Cove. 

Carnival Elation’s return to Jacksonville on Sept. 26 has also been pushed back to “sometime” on Fri., Sept. 27.

Royal Caribbean

Several Royal Caribbean ships are sailing amended itineraries including Serenade of the Seas and Grandeur of the Seas, which were both meant to be sailing in the Western Caribbean. Instead, both ships are visiting Nassau and Freeport in The Bahamas.

Additionally, Serenade of the Seas’ sailing, which was a three-night sailing due to return to Tampa on Fri., Sept. 27, will now return on Sun., Sept. 29.

Both Utopia of the Seas and Adventure of the Seas will have delayed arrivals back to Port Canaveral on Fri., Sept. 27.

Wonder of the Seas replaced its entire Western Caribbean itinerary with an Eastern Caribbean sailing, with stops in St. Thomas, St. Maarten, and Perfect Day at CocoCay, while Independence of the Seas also replaced a Western Caribbean port (Cozumel) with Nassau.

Mariner of the Seas skipped a scheduled call on Cozumel as well.

MSC Cruises

Two MSC ships sailed amended itineraries including MSC Seascape, which swapped Western Caribbean for Eastern Caribbean.

MSC Seashore’s four-day sailing was extended by one day, returning to Port Canaveral on Fri., Sept. 27 instead of Thurs., Sept. 26.

Disney Cruise Line

Disney Wish returned to Port Canaveral several hours late on Fri., Sept. 27.

Disney Fantasy swapped out its planned port of call to Grand Cayman on Tuesday for a day at sea.

Virgin Voyages

Valiant Lady skipped its visit to Cozumel on Tuesday for a day at sea, but will add in a visit to Puerto Plata.

Updated airline waivers

Airlines started issuing waivers for Helene on Monday night, and those waivers have only expanded as Helene approached Florida’s Big Bend coast.

American Airlines issued a travel waiver Tuesday for essentially all of its flights scheduled for Florida, along with some others in the Caribbean and Mexico. The waiver covers flights through Sept 27 and allows for rebooking without penalty or fare differences through Oct. 4.

American issued a second waiver on Wednesday for airports in the Southeast U.S. including Atlanta Hartsfield (ATL), Charleston (CHS), Charlotte (CLT), Nashville (BNA), and Savannah (SAV). That waiver covers flights through Sept. 28 and allows for rebooking through Oct. 5.

Air Canada has a waiver out for Atlanta Hartsfield (ATL), Ft. Lauderdale (FLL), Ft. Myers (RSW), Miami (MIA), Orlando (MCO), and Tampa (TPA) for travel on Sept. 26. It also has a waiver for those same airports, minus Ft. Lauderdale and Miami, for Sept. 27.

Delta has a waiver for 25 airports in Florida, the Caribbean, and Georgia for travel through Sept. 27. It also has a separate waiver for its Atlanta Hartsfield (ATL) hub for Sept. 27 that allows for rebooked travel through Oct. 1.

JetBlue has a waiver for flyers traveling on Sept. 26 and Sept. 27 through Ft. Myers (RSW), Sarasota (SRQ), Savannah (SAV), Tallahassee (TLH), and Tampa (TPA). JetBlue will allow customers to rebook through Oct. 2 without paying extra.

Southwest, which has the most flight cancellations out of any carrier on Thursday, has a waiver for flights from airports in Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, and Tennessee through Sept. 27.

United Airlines has a waiver for travel through Sept. 27 at airports in the Carolinas, Florida, Georgia, and more.