Hurricane Sandy paralyzes travel to and from east coast
MILWAUKEE -- Hurricane Sandy is impacting travel plans of those across the nation as it is set to make landfall on the east coast Monday, October 29th.
Getting to the northeast by bus or train is impossible, as Greyhound, Megabus and Amtrak suspended service to major east coast cities as Hurricane Sandy approached.
Air travel is also being affected by the storm -- even at Milwaukee's Mitchell International Airport.
"There are many fewer customers here today then there would on a normal Monday or work day. People are staying home. They know their fights are cancelled to the east coast and those are very busy markets for us," Mitchell International Airport spokeswoman Pat Rowe said.
Rowe says airlines have been reaching out to customers to let them know flights are cancelled and are being rebooked.
"Airlines are offering people many ways to get flight info. and updates. They can sign up for text updates, email updates and cell updates," Rowe said.
Delta, United and U.S. Airways have grounded service to cities like New York, Newark, Philly and Washington, D.C.
Hurricane Sandy is keeping travel agents very busy! Tricia Newlands says her agency -- Fox World Travel had to increase staff to deal with the demands.
"We're getting phone calls and we're having to reschedule people's trips or just outright cancel. A lot of people are coming in and out of international flights, and business travelers going (to the east coast) for business. (The east coast is) a big hub for people going on to Europe and other destinations," Newlands said.
Some officials have said it could take days for flights and other modes of transportation to get back on track following the cancellations once the storm rolls through.
"It looks like they're kind of anticipating the storm and possibly the aftermath of the storm going through November 3rd, so we would like to re-accommodate. Realistically, we're looking into early next week to get people back," Newlands said.
Airlines are being flexible with travelers. Many are automatically rebooking people and refunding tickets.
CLICK HERE for an airline-by-airline list of weather waivers.
CLICK HERE for live flight tracking via Flight Aware.
CLICK HERE for additional information on Greyhound service alerts via Greyhound.com.
CLICK HERE for additional information on Megabus service cancellations via Megabus.com.
CLICK HERE for additional information on Amtrak service cancellations via Amtrak.com.
CLICK HERE for additional Hurricane Sandy coverage via FOX6Now.com.
CLICK HERE for the FOX6Now.com Hurricane Tracker.