Tropical Storm Debby Update: Airlines Extend Waivers as Storm Moves Through U.S.

The fourth named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, Tropical Storm Debby, is slowly moving through the southeast U.S. on Tuesday morning and is expected to continue to impact travel through the rest of the week.

As of 5 a.m. on Tuesday morning, Debby was about 50 miles southwest of Savannah, Georgia, and 130 miles southwest of Charleston, South Carolina, moving northeast at just 7 mph. It’s expected to move off the Georgia coast sometime this afternoon, and then up the coast.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is warning people in southeast Georgia and eastern South Carolina that “potentially historic heavy rainfall” through Friday is a very real possibility. It is also alerting those in the area from northern North Carolina through portions of the Mid-Atlantic and southern New England that “heavy rainfall” and “likely flooding” is possible through Sunday morning.

Here’s the rest of the latest on Debby:

Florida recovering

Florida felt the brunt of Debby’s impact when the storm passed through the state over the past couple of days. Most notably, the storm downed power lines and flooded areas, leaving thousands without power in the state’s northern half.

According to PowerOutage.us, more than 100,000 Floridians remain without power as of Tuesday morning, mostly in the state’s northwest.

The concern now is that as Debby continues to move north, airports in Georgia and the Carolinas could be impacted. A couple of those hubs are now reporting some major cancellations:

• Charleston International Airport (CHS) has canceled 25% of its departures for Tuesday.
• Savannah/Hilton Head International (SAV) has canceled 28% of its departures for Tuesday.

Florida airports, which bore the brunt of Debby’s impact earlier in the week, are returning to relatively normal operations—Orlando International (MCO), Ft. Lauderdale International (FLL), and Tampa International (TPA), are all minimal cancellations on Tuesday (2% or less).

Flight waivers and cruise changes

American Airlines is allowing all travelers through impacted airports, which are mostly regional airports in the Carolinas and Georgia, who are booked on flights through Aug. 9, to change their flight without fee. The waiver allows for new flights through the end of Aug. 9.

Delta Air Lines has a waiver in place for Augusta (AGS), Charleston (CHS), Columbia (CAE), Hilton Head (HHH), Jacksonville (JAX), Myrtle Beach (MYR) Savannah (SAV), Tallahassee (TLH), and Wilmington (ILM). That waiver includes all travel through those airports through Wednesday, Aug. 7, and allows for new tickets to be rebooked through Aug. 10.

JetBlue has a waiver for three airports—Charleston (CHS), Jacksonville (JAX), and Savannah/Hilton Head (SAV)—for travel through Wednesday, Aug. 7. Travel can be rebooked for flights through the end of Aug. 10.

United Airlines also has a waiver in place for airports in the Carolinas, Georgia, and some Florida airports including Orlando (MCO), Ft. Myers (RSW), Ft. Lauderdale (FLL), and Miami (MIA). United’s waiver includes flights through those airports through Aug. 7 and allows passengers to rebook on new flights through Aug. 15.

Multiple cruise lines have already made changes for Debby, including Carnival Cruise Line, Norwegian, and Royal Caribbean. All those changes can be found here.