ST. LOUIS – The St. Louis Lambert International Airport saw an increase in arriving flights from Florida on Tuesday as residents evacuated the state ahead of Hurricane Milton. Passengers said additional flights with Southwest Airlines made it possible to get out of harm’s way.

“Everything was sold out. The highways in Tampa were gridlocked. So, I was planning on just hunkering down until a friend of mine said, ‘Hey, there is five flights available,’” Justin Robinson said.

People landing at Lambert Airport from Florida said the destination didn’t matter; they just wanted to get out of the state. Passengers said the Southwest flights to St. Louis helped connect them with family and friends.

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“My final destination is New York but unfortunately, there is not a single flight. Not only from Tampa, but Orlando, Miami, Jacksonville. So, we ended up here.”

One person at Lambert picked up her daughter before a road trip back home.

“On the parent group on Facebook for UT, someone mentioned that Southwest had rescue flights. So, we picked this one. We’re in Chicago. So, we drove the five-and-a-half hours to pick her up, and now we’ll drive five-and-a-half hours to get her home,” Ana Escobar said.

Families said they don’t know when they’ll head back to Florida.

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