Is It Safe to Visit the Caribbean Right Now? What Travelers Should Know

"Positive update from the Caribbean-I was online and on the phone for HOURS all day yesterday but finally got flights so we will be heading home sooner than Friday," Han wrote in an Instagram post, adding in the video, "We all recognize and realize fully that there are far worse places to be stuck. We're lucky just to be able to have been here in the first place."

"The closure led to a ripple effect of flight disruptions with major airlines forced to add additional flights to accommodate stranded passengers. That's what happened to Nydia Han, a consumer investigative reporter with Philadelphia's 6abc, who was finally able to get a flight back to the Continental U.S. after getting stranded in Puerto Rico for days, taking a slight detour to Baltimore before boarding a train back to the City of Brotherly Love."

On Jan. 3, the U.S. initiated a military strike in Venezuela, capturing Nicolás Maduro and transporting him to New York on narco-terrorism charges. The Federal Aviation Administration temporarily restricted airspace around the Caribbean and Venezuela, then reopened it. The airspace closure caused a ripple effect of flight disruptions, forcing major airlines to add extra flights and leaving some passengers stranded. Some travelers experienced detours and long waits to return to the continental U.S. Flight disruptions have started to ease, though the risk of cancellation has decreased while airport congestion and the likelihood of full flights have increased.

Read at Travel + Leisure