Hurricane Matthew lands, but nearly 4K flights can't take off

Bracing for a category four Hurricane Matthew, which left over 300 people dead in Haiti, airlines and airports in the US went on a war footing and scheduled the cancellations of around 3,862 flights between Wednesday and Saturday

Downed trees and branches cover a street in a residential community after Hurricane Matthew passes through in Ormond Beach, Florida. Pic/AFP

Washington: Bracing for a category four Hurricane Matthew, which left over 300 people dead in Haiti, airlines and airports in the US went on a war footing and scheduled the cancellations of around 3,862 flights between Wednesday and Saturday.

Hurricane Matthew made a landfall in Florida on Friday, between West Palm Beach and Cape Canaveral in Florida, but did not wreak too much damage.

A state of emergency was declared in the three states of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina by President Barack Obama on Thursday.

Although, the Miami International Airport and Palm Beach International Airport planned to remain open, the commercial scheduled flights were halted. Even if the airports and airlines wanted to ensure quick restoration of schedules, in an extremely rare move, Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport shut down for the first time since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Matthew claims over 300 people in Haiti
Port-Au-Prince:âu00c2u0080u00c2u0088Hurricane Matthew killed more than 300 people as it smashed through southern Haiti, Senator Herve Fourcand from the region said, adding that the figure is still preliminary, as some areas hit by the powerful storm are still inaccessible.

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