Heavy rain throws New York airports into delay and cancelation chaos
With an entire terminal shut down, 18% of all flights out of Laguardia Airport have been canceled.
Those living in New York know that the end of September brought with it a wave of very heavy rains — after four days of nearly nonstop rain on the weekend between Sept. 22 and 25, the city enjoyed a brief break of sunshine before getting hit with even more torrential rainfall on the second-to-last day of September. Some parts of the city have seen more than a foot of rain.
On the travel end, those looking to either fly into or leave the city are now faced with significant challenges. By 12:30 p.m., the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a ground stop for the city's LaGuardia Airport while the two other major airports John F. Kennedy and Newark are also grappling with significant flight cancelations and delays.
Related: Severe Weather Sparks Wave of Flight Cancellations in Northeast
A smaller airport used mostly for flights within North America, LaGuardia closed its primary Terminal A amid the heavy flooding that blocked access to the roads leading up to it. As of Friday afternoon, FlightAware data shows that 22% of the flights taking off from LaGuardia have been canceled while an additional 20% of those scheduled to come into into the airport have also been called off.
'Please avoid the area until further notice'
"All access to Terminal A is currently closed," LaGuardia Airport announced in a statement on Twitter. "Please avoid the area until further notice."
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Some flights scheduled to take off from LaGuardia's Terminal A have been moved to nearby Terminal C but in general anyone who has a flight in or out of the airport will be looking at significant disruption — more than 300 flights are currently delayed without a rescheduled time.
At JFK, 25% of all departing flights were delayed while 11% were canceled entirely. Newark has also seen high rates of delays while airlines such as JetBlue (JBLU) - Get Free Report, American Airlines (AAL) - Get Free Report and Spirit Airlines (SAVE) - Get Free Report were some of the most affected airlines.
While numerous flights are still taking off as scheduled, the state of New York is currently under a state of emergency declared by Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Travel plans disrupted by flooding? Here's what you need to know and do
"I am declaring a State of Emergency across New York City, Long Island, and the Hudson Valley due to the extreme rainfall we're seeing throughout the region," Hochul wrote on Twitter. "Please take steps to stay safe and remember to never attempt to travel on flooded roads."
For those who have a flight scheduled to go in or out of New York on Friday, airlines recommend tracking the flight status more diligently than usual by either checking it online or setting up phone notifications — learning about a canceled or delayed flight earlier can save some an unnecessary trip to the airport at a time when certain roads in the city are also struggling with flooding.
Some, however, will inevitably get stuck at airports overnight as the flooding is expected to continue into Saturday.
“This is a very challenging weather event," Hochul said. "This a life-threatening event. And I need all New Yorkers to heed that warning so we can keep them safe."
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