CHARLOTTE, N.C. — As the Southeast braces for Hurricane Ian, Charlotte Douglas International Airport saw many people that wanted to escape the storm Tuesday.
On Tuesday night, about 30 flights from Florida arrived in Charlotte, and nine were canceled.
Florida resident Aileen Doane told WCNC Charlotte she felt lucky to have left the Sunshine State before heavy rain takes over.
"I wanted to escape the hurricane,” Doane said.
She explained that she moved her travel schedule up to nab one of the last flights out of Fort Myers after an airline told her they were likely going to cancel her original Thursday flight.
The silver lining is she gets to see her son and grandson that live in Charlotte.
"So, I’m happy; I’m waiting for them to pick me up,” Doane said as she waited outside in the arrivals area.
The longtime Floridian isn’t worried about damage to her home because she said she lives 10 miles from the water.
Meanwhile, Charlottean Evan Wardrop was disappointed he had to cancel his Tampa vacation.
"We're planning a golf trip and Hurricane Ian was coming in and it didn’t make any sense for us to go,” Wardrop shared.
He said he was given a full refund from Spirit and feels blessed to steer clear from danger, while others that live in Florida and the Caribbean may not have that option.
Hurricane Ian is expected to hit the Gulf Coast of Florida as a Category 4 storm.
According to Flight Aware, as of 9 p.m. Tuesday night, more than 1,400 flights scheduled to and from Orlando, Miami and Tampa on Wednesday have been canceled so far.
Contact Julia Kauffman at jkauffman@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.