The Stranded Traveler’s Disaster Plan

You’re traveling and a big storm is coming. It’s days away but you’re stuck with no way home.

Before each of the recent hurricanes, airlines added some extra flights and switched some scheduled trips to larger airplanes to help evacuate. But seats were scarce as demand surged from major destinations. “People from five days’ worth of flights want to get out in one day, and it’s not going to happen,” a spokesman for American Airlines says.