Hurricane Helene kills 3, cancels flights

U.S. airlines cancelled or delayed thousands of flights on Thursday (Sept. 26), before Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend.

According to Reuters, a total of 1,218 flights were cancelled and 4,146 delayed as of 6 p.m. that day.

Southwest Airlines cancelled the most flights at 201, closely followed by American Airlines and Delta Air Lines.

The BBC reported that three people were killed and more than one million were left without power when the hurricane — the most powerful storm to hit Big Bend on record — swept Florida and moved into Georgia on Friday (Sept. 27).

Wind speeds reached 140mph (225km/h) and six metres (20ft) of rain made landfall as the Category 4 storm reached the U.S.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis warned that more fatalities would be “likely.”  

Flooded roads and houses left families to swim to safety. Experts expect damage caused by the storm could run into the billions of dollars.

According to the Associated Press, Helene has now weakened to a tropical storm.

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