Air travel has been severely impacted in the United States this week as Tropical Storm Helene pummels the southeast. NBC Chicago’s Vi Nguyen reports.
New images show the aftermath of the catastrophic damage in many communities as Tropical Storm Helene continues to move across the southeastern states.
“It’s crazy, I can’t even believe it,” said Kyndal Barksdale, who flew into Chicago from Georgia.
She knows she is lucky to get on a flight out of town for the weekend. She and others flew into O’Hare International Airport Friday afternoon.
“I did text my dad and was like, 'What if the flights get cancelled,' but they were just delayed,” Lilly Chadwick said, who flew in from North Carolina.
Chadwick and her dad are in town for a weekend and said they’re from Boone, North Carolina.
“I’ve grown up kind of seeing the hurricane seasons every year and the way it flows through the Carolinas, but this is the biggest one I’ve seen since I was a child,” she said.
Rain from the storm brought massive flooding on a main street in their hometown.
“When I was leaving Shelby, it was just beginning to start,” David Chadwick told NBC Chicago. “The water, thank goodness we were able to drive to Charlotte fairly easily, but the further west it was much much worse.”
The Mayor of Tampa surveyed the devastation and said the National Guard has been activated. Emergency responders doing everything they can to reach those still trapped in their homes.
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Not far away, members of the U.S. Coast Guard swooped in to rescue a man and his dog before the landfall in Florida. Their sailboard was disabled 25 miles off the coast of Sanibel Island. The two hoisted into the helicopter.
Meanwhile, those arriving in Chicago are grateful they made it here safely and thinking about those now forced to rebuild in the days, weeks, and months ahead.
Hundreds of flights have been cancelled or delayed along the coast. More than 4 million remain without power. Officials said at least 42 people have been killed in four states.
