Airlines are dealing with the impact of Hurricane Beryl, with hundreds of flights canceled on Monday. Landing in Texas.
About 3,500 additional flights were delayed, but not all of them were hurricane-related, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware. Many of the disrupted flights were departing or arriving at airports in Texas, with about 600 flights departing from Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) and 165 flights departing from Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport canceled.
United Airlines had the most canceled flights on Monday morning, with 486, followed by Southwest Airlines with 346, according to FlightAware data.
Beryl made landfall as a Category 1 storm with sustained winds of 74 to 95 mph but weakened to a tropical storm on Monday with maximum winds of nearly 70 mph. Even less powerful hurricanes could pose a risk of flooding and storm surge, with rainfall reaching 2 to 3 inches per hour in the Houston metropolitan area and the region potentially experiencing up to 12 inches of rain and flash flooding, said David Parkinson, senior weather and climate producer for CBS News.
Beryl is the second named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30. Move The National Hurricane Center said the hurricane will move over eastern Texas on Monday before passing through the lower Mississippi River basin and into the Ohio River basin on Tuesday and Wednesday.
United Airlines said in a statement to CBS News that it was canceling most flights out of Houston on Monday but would waive change fees and fare differences for passengers who wanted to change their travel dates. United flights out of Houston will be suspended until 5 p.m. ET. “Adjustments will be made as the storm passes through,” the company said.
Similarly, American Airlines told CBS News it would suspend operations at Houston’s airport starting Monday until around 3 p.m. ET.
“We will assess the situation tomorrow and determine if it is safe to resume service in the afternoon/evening,” American Airlines said in a statement, adding that customers could also rebook their tickets without a change fee. The airline said it had no plans to change flight schedules in Austin, Brownsville, Harlingen and McAllen, Texas, as a result of the storm.
Southwest Airlines said in a statement that it had suspended flights from George Bush Intercontinental Airport, William P. Hobby Airport and Corpus Christi International Airport until noon Monday. The airline added that it expected schedule changes through Monday afternoon and urged passengers to check their flight status for any disruptions.
—Reporting by Chris Van Cleave, CBS News.
