Airlines Charge Thousands To Fly Out Of Hurricane Irma Path In Florida

MIAMI, FL — Residents trying to escape Florida before Hurricane Irma hits are outraged as prices for flights skyrocketed to thousands of dollars, according to reports.

The Miami Herald reports that some domestic flights out of South Florida cost as much as $3,000 per person Wednesday. In Florida, price gouging is illegal after a state of emergency is declared. Since airlines are regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Department of Transportation, they do not have to abide to the state's price gouging law.

Attorney General Pam Bondi created a price gouging hotline for residents who feel they are victims of unlawful price increases. Bondi's office said in a statement to The Miami Herald that it is “receiving complaints about airline tickets and making phone calls to airlines requesting voluntary compliance.” (For more hurricane news or local news from Florida, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Miami Patch, and click here to find your local Florida Patch. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Watch: Hurricane Irma Pummels The Caribbean; Florida Could Be Next

Users have taken to Twitter to rant about the increasing prices:

Miami-Dade Police also took to Twitter to warn residents of the potential for price gouging.

In order to help people evacuate areas in Irma's path, Jet Blue has capped the price of non-stop flights out of Florida at $99, including tax. Connecting flights out of Florida will cost $150. Jet Blue said it had cancelled about 130 flights as of 2 p.m. Wednesday.

As the National Guard is activated in Florida ahead of Hurricane Irma, the Category 5 storm has set the record as the most powerful Atlantic hurricane ever recorded as it made landfall on the Caribbean islands Tuesday morning. Forecasters say it is "potentially catastrophic."

While it’s still too early to tell what impacts Irma might have on Florida or the United States, forecasters say she bears close monitoring. Irma is expected to remain a major hurricane through the week. The threat Irma poses to Florida prompted Gov. Rick Scott to declare a state of emergency on Monday. The declaration includes all 67 counties within the Sunshine State.

Those in the storm's wake are preparing for the worst by stocking up on basic supplies, securing what property they can and even preparing to evacuate flood-prone regions. While the hurricane's path and effects are still far from certain, residents and officials want to take no chances after seeing the level of destruction Hurricane Harvey brought on Texas.

“Hurricane Irma is a major and life-threatening storm and Florida must be prepared,” Scott said on Monday. "In Florida, we always prepare for the worst and hope for the best and while the exact path of Irma is not absolutely known at this time, we cannot afford to not be prepared."

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