Jaunted

Hurricanes / Weather Travel / Summer Travel / → All Tags

Three Quick Tips to Protect Your Travels During Hurricane Season

Hey, welcome to the start of yet another Hurricane Season!

It really seems as if we just finished hurricane season 2012, what with the scars of Sandy still quite deep, but 2013 is ready to whip up winds and ruin travel plans.

Accuweather is predicting there'll be 16 nameable storms in 2013 (fewer than the 19 of 2012), with 8 of those reaching hurricane strength and 3 making landfalls on the United States.

more ›

Hurricanes / Delays / Airline News / Weather Travel / Florida Travel / → All Tags

Total Flights Cancelled by Hurricane Isaac (So Far): 742

"What's going with Hurricane Isaac?" It's a question we've heard all weekend and, now with the meat of the week ahead, one that won't die until the winds do.

According to The Weather Channel's nice little map above, it's the Gulf Coast that's now in the crosshairs, the Keys having been spared everything but a good storming. And though Isaac has only begun to make the coast sweat, the airlines have been in go-mode since the middle of last week.

Heck, Southwest instagrammed a shot of their emergency satellite phones, all packed up and ready to ship out to airport crew on Friday. Meanwhile, they and AirTran were loading up the schedule with extra flights from Florida ahead of the storm.

more ›

Volunteer Travel / Missouri Travel / Weather Travel / → All Tags

One Year Later, Volunteers Are Still Needed to Help Rebuild Joplin

This week marks the one year anniversary of the tornado that destroyed more than 2,700 homes in Joplin, Missouri. The community has come a long way in the past year, but volunteers are still needed to continue rebuilding homes for those who are still displaced.

Yesterday Missouri's Governor, Jay Nixon, announced the Governor's Joplin Challenge, a partnership between Missouri sports teams and Habitat for Humanity to build 35 homes this year. To meet their goal, Habitat for Humanity needs all of the volunteers they can get. To be included in their build schedule, fill out the application at joplinchallenge.mo.gov/volunteer.

more ›

Science Travel / Weather Travel / Solar Storm / Travel News / → All Tags

Watch for the Northern Lights During This Week's Solar Storm

When traveling, there's all kinds of weather phenomenon to worry about: lightning, high wind, thunderheads and turbulence, tornadoes (ah hem St. Louis Airport), but today the focus is on a solar storm.

A solar storm is a blast of energy released from the sun, which reaches us here on Earth a few days after it's brightened up the sun's atmosphere. A barrage of X-rays and UV radiation hits our atmosphere, disrupting everything from GPS navigation and communication to power grids and plane routes. You won't be able to see the storm—it's an electromagnetic thing—and it won't crash any planes (don't worry), but it will be super interesting for science geeks around the world.

more ›

Volunteer Travel / Disaster Travel / Tornadoes / Weather Travel / → All Tags

How You Can Volunteer to Help Tornado Victims from Kansas to Kentucky

Tornadoes last week tore through more than 10 states, causing many effected families to wonder how they'll continue on. At the same time, many others are asking what they can do to help.

Disaster relief organizations are setting up in the worst hit communities to begin cleaning up and assisting those in need, and they looking for volunteers.

In Harveyville, Kansas, which was hit by the first round of storms, over 500 volunteers and 55 private contractors are on hand helping to remove debris, but they still need more. The United Way of the Plains is currently coordinating volunteers. You can register to help by e-mail to harveyvilletornado@gmail.com.

more ›

Hurricanes / Hurricane Irene / JetBlue / Airplanes / Weather Travel / JFK / Airplane News / Airline News / → All Tags

When a Hurricane Threatens, Airplanes Go Into Hiding

In just a few hours, New York City's airports should be back up and functioning somewhat normally after a weekend of shut down due to the threat posed by Hurricane Irene. Thankfully the airports are still around at all, since New York did not get as hard as everyone expected, even though JFK lies way out in the mandatory evacuation zone.

In order to get flights heading out on schedule, airlines must fling their planes back to the airports in the first place. You see, when a severe storm approaches such as a hurricane, an effort is made to clear the airport of planes and put them into "hiding" at other airports as much as possible. Nobody wants to see an overturned or damaged multi-million dollar flying machine after some wind and rain.

During Irene, one of the airlines most transparent about their emergency procedures was JetBlue. Not only are they being proactive about rebooking customers on Twitter (just have a look at their feed), but their COO Rob Maruster shared this pic of a deserted Terminal 5 at JFK with storm clouds overhead.

more ›

Louisiana Travel / Museum Travel / Weather Travel / Hurricanes / → All Tags

The National Hurricane Museum is Looking Pretty Good on Paper

Hopefully you got enough hurricane action this week to hold you over for a long time, but if not there’s always the National Hurricane Museum and Science Center. Here you can relive some of Mother Nature’s fury through interactive exhibits all while remaining safe and sound—and dry!

The only issue is that the place isn’t open yet, as they’re still trying to raise enough funding to debut the place in Lake Charles, Louisiana. There’s a vote this fall for residents to give their blessing to build the place on the downtown lakefront, but in the interim they’d love a donation or two.

more ›

Volunteer Travel / Disaster Travel / Alabama Travel / Facebook / Twitter / Tornadoes / Weather Travel / → All Tags

Join Facebook, Twitter and the Red Cross in Helping Victims of Alabama's Tornadoes

After last month's devastating tornadoes in the south, volunteers from around the country are heading to the effected areas. If you want to help out as well, there are a few organizations still looking for help in Alabama:

· The American Red Cross has set up emergency shelters throughout the region. They’re also providing food, blood, emergency-response vehicles and other relief supplies. You can find out about volunteer opportunities at RedCross.org or by visiting your local Red Cross office.

more ›