Passengers arrive in Chicago from Florida ahead of Hurricane Helene

CHICAGO - Hurricane Helene is strengthening as it moves toward Florida, where it is expected to make landfall on Thursday. Some mandatory evacuations are in place in coastal areas – leaving residents and vacationers seeking refuge.

As Floridians brace for impact, a quiet O'Hare International Airport on Wednesday may have been the calm before the storm.

"We are getting a lot of alerts and a lot of people back home saying that we are definitely kind of in the line of fire," said Donna Pecci, traveler.

Pecci is originally from Chicago but now lives in Naples. She's been traveling through on business and just returned from Arkansas. On Wednesday, she planned to visit with family in the area before attempting to get back to the Sunshine State to hunker down Thursday.

"We’re headed back to pick up our dog and supposedly supposed to be out tomorrow," said Pecci. "Definitely going to get a lot of storms, a lot of wind. We've been through this before. We've been down in Naples now for about three years full-time, and six years part-time. So, we're kind of used to it, but it's always scary."

So far, her flight is on schedule, but Pecci is preparing for roadblocks along the way.

"You never know how much flooding there is going to be, you know, if the streets are going to be closed, if we are going to be able to get to where we need go," she added.  

Those same concerns caused Meredith Fleck and her family to cut their vacation short.

"We were supposed to be there for the week," said Fleck.

They were staying at a family friend’s condo in Panama City Beach – right on the water.

"Just thought it might be the smartest thing to get home a little earlier," said Fleck.

Fleck and her family even split up to get back.

"I got on like the last seat in the United flight to get home today," said Fleck.

Similarly, after visiting the Pensacola area to play golf with his brothers, Wayne Klein could have extended his stay.

"There were a lot of offers to change our flights for tomorrow or later in the week," said Klein.

Instead, he thought it best to return while he could.

"We’re relieved," said Klein.

While some are getting back home – others are leaving theirs.

Kristie Calarco and her daughter, Lexi, live in Florida.

"We were supposed to come [to Chicago] on Friday but due to the hurricane, we bumped it up a couple days to get out of the mess," said Calarco.

Here to visit family in Chicago, they didn’t want to risk getting stuck in Hurricane Helene’s path.

"United sent texts saying that we had the option to move, so I jumped on that right away," said Calarco.

Several Florida airports have already announced closures beginning Thursday.

Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport near Panama City is urging all passengers coming in or out of Florida to check directly with their airline for the latest on delays and cancellations.

Meanwhile, Tallahassee International Airport has announced it is suspending operations Thursday and will resume flights when it is safe to do so.

The Tampa International Airport is also suspending operations beginning at 2 a.m. Thursday.