Hurricane Delta thwarts honeymoon, costs newlyweds $5,000 to get back to US, they say

A newly married couple had to pay thousands to get back to the U.S. ahead of Hurricane Delta, they say. The pair were on their honeymoon.

Jessica and Hunter Biffle got married in Oklahoma on Oct. 3. before jetting off to Cancun for a picturesque honeymoon, according to a GoFundMe set up for the couple.

Then Hurricane Delta brought their trip to an abrupt end.

The couple had only been in Cancun for a day when their hotel told them they would be evacuated to a shelter on the resort, but the pair decided it would be safest to leave the country altogether, KTRK reported.

“As if having a wedding during a pandemic wasn’t difficult enough with many vendors canceling and numerous obstacles along the way, they have now had to abruptly flee a Category 4 ... hurricane for safety,” said a post on GoFundMe.

Family members scrambled to help them change their United Airlines flights and booked them on a flight from Cancun to Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston — a feat that cost a whopping $5,000, they told KTRK..

United issued a travel waiver for flights to and from Cancun scheduled for Oct. 6 or 7.

“For Hurricane Delta, our team is actively monitoring the situation,” United said in a statement, KTRK reported. “We’ve issued a travel waiver for those traveling through impacted areas, which allows customers to change their flight at no cost on our mobile app or by calling us. We encourage customers to visit our app or united.com for the latest information about their flight.”

Hurricane Delta made landfall south of Cancun around 5:35 a.m. Wednesday as a Category 2 storm, the Associated Press reported.

Winds reached speeds of 110 mph, toppling trees and knocking out electricity for people along the Yucatan Peninsula’s northeastern coast, according to the outlet.

Hurricane Delta is forecast to move into the southern gulf of the U.S. later Wednesday, McClatchy News previously reported.

After weakening upon making landfall, weather officials say Hurricane Delta “could become a Category 4 hurricane again by late Thursday,” Kevin Gilmore, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Baton Rouge, told McClatchy News.

It’s expected to make landfall stateside near the central Louisiana coastline late Friday.

This story was originally published October 7, 2020 at 12:26 PM with the headline "Hurricane Delta thwarts honeymoon, costs newlyweds $5,000 to get back to US, they say."