COLUMBUS, Ohio — As airports in Tampa, St. Pete-Clearwater, Sarasota, and Orlando shut down this week in anticipation of Hurricane Milton, a number of travelers made sure to get out Tuesday night while they still could. As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 700 flights were cancelled across the country.
Some travelers who flew into Columbus shared their experiences on escaping the impending storm.
"Lotta anxiety about it before I left, wasn't sure I was gonna be able to fly out in time,” Emilio Paesano, a Tampa Bay resident, said.
Paesano said he moved to Tampa Bay in June. He had plans to fly back to Columbus this weekend for a weekend. He was supposed to fly back on Thursday but ended up making other arrangements.
"As soon as I got the notification on my phone from Tampa International Airport that they were closing the airport at 9 a.m. I switched my flight immediately,” Paesano said.
Paesano said he left behind chaos.
"I mean, I was going into work yesterday into the office and there was just traffic nonstop going in the opposite direction,” Paesano said.
He added basic needs in the Tampa area were already hard to come by.
"I tried to go buy water, and Costco and Walmart were sold out of water. I bought two five-gallon jugs, like Gatorade coolers for water, and freezer bags,” Paesano said.
"We went to the grocery store and in fact, we planned for our friends who live in that area, and we bought water for them while we were there… Where we stay, we know that the staff doesn't always get a lot of time to prep because they're taking care of everybody else,” Trisha Halterman, a Columbus resident, said.
Halterman said she had to cut short her anniversary trip in Daytona this week.
"By the time we got on the plane, it was too late to change our minds, so as soon as we got there, we just immediately rebooked to come right back home in a couple days,” Halterman said.
Halterman said she did what she could to help before leaving.
"We bought water for other people and just had it there ready for them for when we left, we could just hand it off and be like, here. Just to help them out a little bit,” Halterman said.
When major weather events happen, these travelers said the best you can do is adjust accordingly.
"Play it by ear... that's all I can tell you right now,” Paesano said.
"Just go with the flow sometimes. Things change, go with it, don't make it stressful,” Halterman said.