NORFOLK, Va. — As Floridians evacuate the state ahead of Hurricane Milton making landfall late Wednesday night into early Thursday morning, Norfolk International Airport saw some of those travelers.
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Tom Justice and his wife own a vacation home in Orlando and spend half of their time there, and the other half in Virginia Beach.
And Hurricane Milton isn't their first hurricane — Justice said this is likely the third or fourth hurricane they've experienced in their 35 years as homeowners.
"They shut the Tampa Airport down yesterday," Justice said, "and they shut the Orlando Airport down at eight this morning. I managed to swing a seven o'clock flight on Delta to Atlanta and then Atlanta to here."
Beginning at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Tampa International Airport suspended operations, and officials said it would remain closed to the public "until it can assess any damage after the storm."
At the Orlando International Airport, operations ceased at 8 a.m. on Wednesday.
Thousands of flights were canceled throughout the U.S. on Wednesday - the majority of which were going to and coming out of Orlando, Tampa and Miami.
Justice caught a 7 a.m. flight out of Orlando to Atlanta, then found a connecting flight to Norfolk.
Jean and Carol, who live in Port Richey, Florida, less than an hour north of Tampa, said they were planning on heading north to evacuate Milton, but neither of them found flights out of the area, so they rented cars instead.
According to them, they drove for 24 hours straight in bumper-to-bumper traffic, and some of the gas stations they stopped at along the way were out of fuel.
"You go 10 miles an hour for 10 hours," said Jean.
"So we're just glad we're together," said Carol. "We're getting too old for this, but I'm praying for the people that could not get out," said Carol.
We've had a couple of cancellations, as you might imagine to destinations in Florida, said Norfolk Airport Authority President and CEO, Mark Perryman on Wednesday. "Yesterday we saw our flight to Tampa and then today we're starting to see an Orlando cancellation."
Perryman said airlines were prepared ahead of the storm and have been able to allow travelers to reschedule and rebook penalty-free any flights impacted by the Hurricane.