Hurricane Irma: For Most, It Could Have Been Much Worse | Aviation International News

Hurricane Irma: For Most, It Could Have Been Much Worse

The industry is counting its blessings after catestrophic damage was limited to a handful of airports in the Caribbean and Florida.

With punishing winds of up to 142 mph, Hurricane Irma caused millions of dollars in damage to Naples Municipal Airport when it made landfall. These hangars are owned by Naples Jet Center, one of two FBOs on the field. According to FBO owner Matthew Hagans, the water on the ramp receded a day after this photo was taken.

By Curt Epstein • Business Aviation Services Editor

September 18, 2017

Scarcely had the country digested the scenes of devastation coming out of Houston in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, when another monster storm developed in the Mid-Atlantic. Category 5 Hurricane Irma, packing winds of 185 mph, spun through the Caribbean, wreaking havoc with Barbuda, Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands before veering north of Puerto Rico and striking the Turks and Caicos Islands and Cuba en route to the U.S. mainland. Along its path, it turned some tropical paradises into acres of wreckage. The region depends heavily on tourism, which in turn attracts private aviation clients, and its damaged FBOs will no doubt have to endure a downturn as they rebuild along with the shattered tourism infrastructure.

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