Connecticut Native Now in Possible Irma Path

With South Florida being one of the potential areas Irma could hit, people there are starting to scramble to figure out what’s next for them, including one Connecticut native who’s getting a flight back to New England after just moving to Florida.

NBC Connecticut spoke to Julie Hill via Skype this afternoon as she was packing for the airport. She just moved to an apartment in Islamorada, Florida in the Florida Keys about two weeks ago from Plainfield.

It’s an area that is in the path for some potentially serious damage from Irma.

For Julie, it’s now a race against the radar.

“Just a couple bags packed of things that are sentimental of valuable to me that I’m going to take with me just in case the worst happens down here,” said Hill.

It’s been a desperate search to catch a flight back to her home state – tonight, she and her dog, Bella, plan to fly back. But the worry for her? Traffic.

“The biggest thing here in the keys is the traffic because there’s only one road. There’s one road up and there’s one road down and you can definitely see the increase of traffic going north,” said Hill, who is trying to escape Irma.

But what if you have a trip planned to head south?

Jean Mallory, manager of White Travel, in New Britain said if you haven’t purchased travel insurance yet, it may be a little too late.

“In order to be covered by insurance, you have to purchase it before the storm is declared so you would have had to purchase it last week. So the insurance option is out,” she said.

What if you booked a cruise? Mallory said most of the time you’ll be refunded if the cruise is canceled due to the weather.

You may not get cash back and instead get your money back as a credit to book a future cruise.

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