Major hurricane in U.S. impacts flights at Pearson Airport in Mississauga, Ontario

A powerful hurricane bearing down on Florida’s Gulf Coast will potentially impact numerous flights into and out of Pearson Airport in Mississauga over the next couple of days.

Pearson Airport officials have been posting updates to social media throughout Wednesday as the powerful Gulf of Mexico storm, which has quickly grown in intensity from a tropical storm into a Category 1 hurricane, takes direct aim at Florida’s northwest coast (aka the Big Bend).

Once Hurricane Helene moves ashore and weakens, it’s still expected to drop large amounts of rain on Florida and other states, leading to flooding.

U.S. authorities in Florida and several surrounding states have declared states of emergency in advance of Helene, which is forecast to strengthen into a major Category 3 storm as it moves over warmer-than-usual Gulf of Mexico waters on Thursday.

It’s anticipated to make landfall Thursday evening somewhere south of Tallahassee, the state’s capital.

Pearson officials say travellers planning to head to Tampa and other areas in the southeastern U.S. that will be impacted by the nasty weather, in addition to those awaiting flights scheduled to arrive in Toronto from those locations, should check the status of flights with airlines.

Officials at Tampa International Airport said in a post to social media they’ll “suspend operations due to Helene” as of 2 a.m. on Thursday and “reopen when safe to do so.”

Atlanta Airport is also preparing for Helene, with officials there saying “even if the storm has minor impacts in Atlanta, severe weather across the Southeast could impact flights.”

The bottom line, Pearson Airport officials said, is that travellers should check the status of flights with airlines to make sure they’re on schedule.

Early Wednesday morning, Pearson officials said via social media that flights between Pearson and Cancun were either cancelled or delayed as the storm — a tropical storm at that point — passed by that part of Mexico.

More flight cancellations are likely for travellers to Florida, airport officials added at the time.

“Travellers bound for Florida in the coming days should check their flight status with their airlines,” Pearson officials said.

(Cover photo: U.S. Federal Aviation Administration X)

— with files from Karen Longwell