Pictures of mountains of debris on the beach, destroyed bridges and houses: The hurricane has drawn a path of horror through parts of Florida. It’s hard to think of a vacation.
Hurricane “Ian” caused great devastation, especially in Florida, and claimed numerous lives. US President Joe Biden said during a visit to the region that reconstruction would take years.
The effects of the hurricane on travelers from Germany – TRAVELBOOK gives an overview:
Southwest coast badly hit
The area around Fort Myers and Cape Coral in southwest Florida was hit very hard. Visitors are being asked to put their travel plans to the region on hold, the Lee County Tourist Development Council said. Search and rescue operations are still ongoing.
The storm surge resulting from the hurricane heavily employed or destroyed buildings and infrastructure, including roads and bridges. Fort Myers Airport is operating on a limited basis. The islands off the coast are currently not accessible from the mainland. The coastal city of Naples south of Fort Myers, which is popular with Florida vacationers, was also severely devastated by Hurricane Ian.
Islands, beaches, bridges and neighborhoods would be rebuilt, it said. When tourism can start up once more here is not yet foreseeable given the extent of the devastation.
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Miami, Orlando, Key West …
Other regions got off lighter. The region around Bradenton in the south of Tampa Bay reported that it had been spared the worst. The beaches are open once more. In and around Orlando, the theme parks Walt Disney World, Universal Resort, Seaworld and Legoland have reopened following being temporarily closed.
According to the regional tourism office, Miami and Miami Beach were also spared severe storm damage. The infrastructure on the Florida Keys island chain is intact, according to the Monroe County Tourist Development Council. The Overseas Highway with its 42 bridges is open.
Current information
If you are looking for more detailed information regarding the individual regions, you can go to the website of the tourism agency Visit Florida. Interested parties can get one there topic page updates from each Florida Tourist Office on Hurricane Ian.
Package holidaymakers who want to fly to Florida soon and now have concerns should contact the tour operator if in doubt. If the package tour cannot take place or only to a limited extent, for example because hotels are closed, the major providers will inform you anyway and, if necessary, offer route adjustments, rebookings or cancellations, according to the travel association DRV. Several shipping companies also had to divert cruise ships because of the storm.
Assessments on travel law issues
In connection with the consequences of the hurricane, travel law questions often arise. In the case of a planned trip to the particularly hard-hit region around Fort Myers, package travelers have the right to free cancellation, says lawyer Paul Degott in Hanover, who specializes in travel law. “Holiday also has a recreational purpose and you don’t have that when the consequences of the disaster are noticeable around you.”
The law speaks of unavoidable extraordinary circumstances at or near the destination of the journey. But what does proximity mean? “Geographically, no boundaries can be drawn when an entire region is significantly affected,” says Degott. But even if the beaches are open, but you have to pass roadblocks and mountains of rubble on the way, you have the right to a free cancellation, according to the assessment of the travel lawyer.
If cruises have been diverted, for example due to port closures or shore excursions that are not possible due to the devastation, there may be claims for a reduction. However, it is difficult to calculate this, according to Degott. Because in this case the question is crucial: Was the replacement for the port that was not called adequate?
Individual travelers who, due to the natural disaster, now want to refrain from their planned trip to Florida or are planning changes, have a worse hand. Whether rental car provider, hotel or flights: if the offers are available – for example if the hotel is open – you have to hope for goodwill for free cancellations. Degott says: “If I book something like this myself, I take the risk myself.”
With material from dpa