Rhonda Mandel lived through Hurricane Katrina's fury in a Marriott Hotel ballroom, a makeshift shelter with a frightening view of the looters and floodwaters that poured through the streets of New Orleans after the storm.
A visitor from Fort Myers, Fla., she'd intended to fly home Aug. 28, the day before the storm hit. But she was stranded when Delta Airlines canceled all its flights for that day.
Plenty of U.S. travelers shared Mandel's experience last year, when hurricanes tore through Cancun and Cozumel, as well as New Orleans. Hurricane season starts June 1 and continues through Nov. 30.
Hurricanes can be fickle – vacationers might face a potentially deadly situation or just have to cancel an afternoon on the beach. Either way, you can take steps to make sure you aren't heading for a catastrophe, hang onto most of your vacation investment and stay safe if the worst happens.
Here is information that will be helpful.
QUESTION: What should I take if I think I might be in an emergency situation or a shelter?
ANSWER: At the bare minimum, experts and experienced travelers say to either purchase or bring food such as cereal bars, a flashlight and water, and don't pack your best clothes – you might wind up leaving them behind if you are evacuated. Here are some items vacationers might take, suggested by the National Hurricane Center: extra blankets and pillows; extra clothing; a first-aid kit; medicines; prescription drugs; special items for babies and the elderly; toiletries; books; and important documents, such as credit cards and passports, kept in a watertight, resealable plastic bag.
Also, have extra cash. ATMs might not work, and without power, some businesses might not be able to accept credit cards.
What information do I need when traveling into a hurricane-prone area?
Call your destination to find out what its emergency plans are; keep phone numbers for your travel agent, tour operator and airline in a safe place. Give your airline the correct contact information when you purchase a ticket – for example, if your cell phone or pager numbers are better than the home phone if a flight is canceled while you're on the way to the airport.
Do all cell phones work outside the U.S.?
No. Check with your provider to see if yours does.
What's a good way to keep track of hurricanes if I'm away from a television or my computer?
You have several options:
Purchase a weather radio, available at electronics, department, sporting goods and boat-and marine-accessory stores. These radios pick up the frequency used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to broadcast emergency information.
You can set up your PDA (and some cell phones) before you leave your computer to receive advisories, forecasts and other messages. To learn how, go to www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutwap.shtml
Which part of hurricane season (June 1-Nov. 30) is usually the busiest?
September.
For the most up-to-date information about tropical storms, try these Web sites:
www.nhc.noaa.gov
www.atwc.org
www.wunderground.com/tropical
http://hurricane.terrapin.com
www.solar.ifa.hawaii.edu/Tropical/tropical.html
http://www.tbo.com/weather/hurricane/
Travel insurance:
Experts emphasize that the key to travel insurance is to read the fine print. If you're not sure what it means, talk to a travel agent.
Some Web sites that allow you to compare various policies are: www.insuremytrip.com and quotetravelinsurance.com.
Also, go to www.budgettravel.com for tips on buying travel insurance and information on travel emergencies.
For general information about traveling abroad, go to travel.state.gov, the U.S. State Department's travel Web site.
Refunds, cancellations:
Tim Wagner, spokesman for American Airlines, says the airline allows customers to change their flight so it's before or after the storm, without paying a fee. American determines what days the policy will be in effect. A customer who decides not to travel in that period can exchange the ticket for a voucher and use the ticket another time, minus a change fee that Wagner says averages about $100.
Policies vary by airline. Delta, for example, allows travelers to rebook – within a window of time – without a fee or paying any change in cost if the flight is canceled because of a hurricane. But if travelers cancel on their own, they would have to pay any fees and changes in cost.
For an extensive list of airline Web sites and phone numbers, go to: www.consumerreports.org, click Travel, then under Travel contacts, click airlines.
Judy Wiley wrote this story for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
