Florida has declared a state of emergency for 41 of the state’s 67 counties due to the possible arrival of Hurricane Helene as it heads west through the Caribbean.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Tropical Storm Helene became the eighth named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season. State officials are warning visitors and residents to prepare before the storm strengthens.

The latest update from The Weather Channels predicts that Tropical Storm Helene will strengthen into “a large, dangerous hurricane before it hits the Florida Gulf Coast Thursday evening.”

If you are travelling to a destination that may be affected by the coronavirus crisis, here is what you need to know.

Here’s where the storm is headed

Tropical Storm Warnings have been issued for parts of the Yucatan Peninsula, western Cuba, and Grand Cayman. These warnings indicate that tropical storms and hurricanes are possible within the next 36-48 hours.

In addition, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has issued several storm surge warnings for Florida’s Gulf Coast.

At the time of publication, the storm was located about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Cozumel, south of Cancun, Mexico.

How to Re-Plan Your Trip

If you’re traveling to any of the destinations listed above this week or next week, you’re probably wondering how this will affect your trip.

Unfortunately, you can’t assume that you’ll be able to automatically cancel your trip and get reimbursed for this potential storm, according to SquareMouth, a comparison site for travel insurance from major US providers.

Daily Newsletter

Treat your inbox with the TPG Daily newsletter

Join over 700,000 readers for breaking news, in-depth guides and exclusive offers from TPG’s experts

If your hotel is still open and operating, you are still responsible for paying for your reservation, assuming you did not book a refundable rate. The only situation where a hotel would cancel on you is if an impending storm makes your hotel uninhabitable or if it has no electricity or running water.

Even if your hotel and flight reservations are non-refundable, it’s still worth calling to see if there’s a recourse. For example, try contacting your airline to see if you can get an earlier or later flight to your intended destination.

Be sure to keep an eye on your airline’s website, as they may be offering waivers to change flights for free at affected airports. At the time of writing, American Airlines and United Airlines have issued waivers for travel through Friday.

Can I still take out travel insurance?

Once a tropical storm or hurricane has been named, it is too late to purchase travel insurance. That was the case for Helene.

That’s why travel insurance experts recommend purchasing travel insurance when booking a trip, especially to destinations that are vulnerable to storms during hurricane season.

Otherwise it will probably be too late.

If you have taken out travel insurance in advance, you should know that the coverage varies per insurance package. For example, they offer coverage for trip cancellation, trip interruption, trip delay and loss and delay of luggage.

This also applies to credit cards with travel delay insurance, which may or may not apply to weather conditions such as hurricanes.

In short

If you act quickly enough, you may be able to salvage part of your trip to Florida this week, as Helene could cause some potential disruption.

While there are no guarantees beyond the stated terms of your travel reservation and the credit card you used to book your travel, it may be helpful to contact your airline, hotel or credit card company directly for assistance.

For more helpful tips on traveling during hurricane season, read: