Visitors stranded at airport hotels by 'superstorm' Sandy

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Many visitors from the northeast are playing the waiting game in south Florida in hotel rooms near Palm Beach International Airport. To get home to the northern east coast, airline passengers have to go through PBIA, but flights to and from the airport have been canceled across the board.

"That got canceled," said John Sullivan. "We tried to get out this morning. That got canceled." 

Sullivan and his wife were supposed to fly to Boston on Sunday but with the 'superstorm' Sandy hitting hard, their next chance at a flight home will not be until Wednesday. 

"Not that bad down here right now," he said as he waited at the Embassy Suites near PBIA. He said he is fortunate to be stranded in sunny south Florida, along with many other would-be travelers who are now finding themselves hold up in hotels near the terminal.

"They just shut down everything in Manhattan," said Gwen Sealy-Singer, who lives on Manhattan's upper west side. Her apartment is on the 19th floor and inside that apartment are her son and her husband. "I'm enjoying it here but my on the other hand, my heart and thoughts are back there," she said. 

Sealy-Singer would certainly trade the sunshine here for her family there, but will not be able to fly out until Wednesday either. "I'm kind of worried and also worried about having to travel back there in the storm," she said.

Hotel managers said despite their guests' unexpected stays, there is still vacancy. Many people who were supposed to be traveling to south Florida were stuck somewhere else, freeing up some hotel rooms locally. 

You can find up to the minute flight information for all of south Florida's airports by clicking here .

Dan Corcoran

WPTV Newschannel 5/WFLX FOX 29

dcorcoran@wptv.com

561.714.0307