Travel advice/opinions...gulf with the oil spill?

[zachnsamsmommy]

My sister and her family have had a trip to the gulf...specifically Florida, planned out for months. I think it is in about 2 1/2 weeks. She (as well as me) were watching the news tonight, and saw that the oil has now almost reached Louisiana, and is drifting north-northeast towards Miss, Ala, and Fl now.

If you are a resident of one of these states, have there been in travel or beach warnings yet?

Or if you were going on vacation, would you cancel it?

Let me add they are taking their 15 mo old and 4 year old, and planned on spending a lot of time on the beach.

Thanks in advance for the opinions...

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I feel bad for recent advice to folks that the panhandle is lovely....

Based on the news today out of Orlando, the immediate future isn't too bad for half the panhandle..but in the next week or 2 or 3, a lot will depend on the air currents. As of now, if there is a strong shift in winds, then oil will get into a current that flows east towards florida, then dips around the peninsula and upswings into the Atlantic.

So it's just a waiting game right now. If a beach vacation was in your plans--I'd watch the news closely as it relates to your destination and if you are concerned, switch to an east coast vacation.

To me, age doesn't matter. Oil coming ashore is going to ruin a vacation. So yes, if the area I was traveling too estimates it coming ashore while I was there, I would be very motivated to cancel.

ETA: I would suggest googling the media outlets for your destination and then consult their webpages. The local news will have more information for you.

 

[LMC]

Well the Gov's called a state of emergency and the graphics they showed are saying the sludge could reach as far as Pensacola in the next couple of days. I guess they will have more info on the news at 10 since they are not showing the press conf live here. I am a pool person myself so unless there was an awful stench, I could still vaca at the beach. I just hate this is happening as it will take years to get back to normal.

 

[leagirl12]

We are somewhat in the same boat. We have a trip planned for the end of June and while I know that is quite a ways away I still worry that if it hits the cleanup will take a good bit of time. We are watching and coming up with a Plan B for our vacation.

This trip will be a wedding gift to my sister and soon to be brother-in-law. They have 4 children between them and live in Iowa so none of them have ever been to the beach. We are really looking forward to the trip and hope it all works out.

I hope the same thing for your sisters trip as well. I did see on the news tonight though that some of the places were lifting their cancellation policies and people could cancel as late as the day before and not be charged. Hopefully wherever she is planning to stay willl have the same policy and she will not lose any money if she does in fact have to cancel.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Yes, this whole thing is just terrible!!!!
A real natural disaster.

We love to vacation on the Panhandle. And it really is heartbreaking.
Our vacation is only weeks away, thank goodness we have plans to go to Historic Williamsburg, Washington DC, Eastern Coast (Chincoteague).

I know that I had been looking forward to the gorgeous panhandle, only to have this happen just prior, I might just be in tears!!!

 

[ilovejack02]

I live in Louisiana, a cpl of hours from the coast. It is heartbreaking the devastation this is causing the gulf.

Most of our coastal towns are reporting a strange smell in the air. The smell is coming from all of the oil, which is an irritant to lungs, esp dangerous to folks with asthma . New Orleans and all coastal areas here are very concerned about air quality.

Our seafood industry is shutting down, lots of folks depend on this for their lively hood. So many people will lose paychecks, which I know many across the United States are too, but our industry has just recovered from Katrina and now this has just set us back again. It will affect us for MANY years to come, much longer than Katrina I believe.

Thousands of birds and wildlife are at risk. Dolphins are birthing right now , so the babies are in danger.

I really hope this can be contained soon and Mississippi, Alabama and Florida wont be affected, but everyday it is looking less and less hopeful.

I would cancel. Most of my friends that have trips in the next cpl of weeks to the panhandle began trying to cancel today.

 

[ChristaDeVil]

We're headed down to Orange Beach next weekend. We are going down for a concert, and probably weren't going to the beach anyway, so we're still going. If we were just going for the beach and a longer vacation, we would probably reconsider.

 

[LaLa]

If you are a resident of one of these states, have there been in travel or beach warnings yet?

We're on the MS Coast and residents are being warned to stay off the beaches and to not touch any oiled marine/wildlife that may wash up as the oil is toxic to both animals and humans. They started dropping booms today in an effort to protect the coastline and wildlife near shore, but I don't think there are enough barriers to protect everything. Very sad situation and it has everyone here worried. On many different levels.

So as for your question about whether she should go, I can only say that I wouldn't want my family on the beach anytime in the near future. Is there an alternative? Although the main draw is the beach, obviously, there are many other fun things to do in Florida. I just hate to see tourism, among other things, suffer the way it's about to.

 

[Happy Mom2]

I'm in south Louisiana, and it's reached our coast this morning. We have declared a state of emergency. I just got back from Orange Beach, AL last weekend.

Personally, if it were me and I planned on spending a lot of time at the beach, I would either cancel or go as far east as you can.

 

[zachnsamsmommy]

Thank you for all the info and input!

She was leaning toward cancelling, but her DH told her it was too early and 'highly unlikely' to reach Florida (not looking that way to me...)

I am going to ask her if she can change the area of Florida they are going to...maybe the Eastern coast (our brother lives in Daytona Beach, anyway).

I hope for all the residents of those gulf states it isn't going to be as bad as the news is starting to report.

Thanks again...

 

[laurie31]

The front page of our local paper this morning says "it's closing in fast" and "may be 10 times worse" than predicted.

President Obama is planning to visit the gulf coast tomorrow.

http://blog.al.com/live/2010/05/obama_to_visit_gulf_coast_in_n.html

The underwater spill remained unstopped and impossible to measure, raising fears it could be pouring more oil into the Gulf than estimated. The Coast Guard estimates that at least 1.6 million gallons of oil have spilled since the April 20 explosion that killed 11 workers on an offshore rig. In the Exxon Valdez disaster, an oil tanker spilled 11 million gallons off Alaska's shores in 1989.

It makes me sad to say it, but at this point I'd cancel a trip to the Gulf and go for the Atlantic coast instead.

 

[shortbun]

I am so sorry for the Gulf Coast. They keep getting hit with disasters. Awful!
That said, I vote you move your vacation to the east coast-perhaps Hatteras Island or Hilton Head. Great for families and not in jeopardy at this time.

 

[SnowWhite607]

I live about 25 miles north of New Orleans and we can smell the oil in the air here.

I have a cruise planned out of New Orleans next month (June 5) and I am wondering if it will be ok. We are going to Cozumel, Belize and Honduras. What do you all think??