Good Neighbor Insurance, www.gninsurance.com , realizes that there are “ah ha” moments during our travels; especially when severe weather comes in with a vengeance to disrupt our travels.  This is when travel insurance that includes trip interruption and/or trip cancellation comes to be an important financial safety net for us.   Good Neighbor Insurance provides many types of travel insurance plans and you may view them on these two web pages at www.gninsurance.com/tripcancellation.  Early on a February morning, a cyclone of historic proportions stormed the shores of Australia’s famous Great Barrier Reef. Residents scrambled to board up and head for shelter as foreign visitors hunkered down in hotels.

Rated a category 5 on the Australian tropical cyclone intensity scale, Cyclone Yasi was a dangerous storm even by American standards. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology measured the cyclone’s core pressure at 929 millibars and estimated storm surge at over 16 feet. This compares to a category 4 hurricane in the Atlantic, which is stronger than hurricane Katrina’s category 3 landfall.

The cyclone’s eye missed Cairns, a city considered by some to be the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. It churned up hundreds of miles of ordinarily calm, turquoise water known world over for its vibrant and exotic marine life. Hundreds of miles of tropical white sand beaches were threatened with erosion. Experts say it’s difficult to tell what damage if any was done to one of Australia’s natural wonders.

Such powerful land-falling cyclones may be rare in Australia. But when they occur, they can dampen any vacationer’s plans. You don’t have to go far for dangerous weather to threaten your travel plans. But the farther you travel, the more can go wrong. Consider these dangerous weather travel tips for international travel.

1. Allow for weather hazards along you entire route when making travel plans. Airplanes are especially vulnerable to changing weather conditions. Pilots constantly monitor the weather when flying. Passengers also should plan for potential delays caused by dangerous weather at their take off and landing sites and by any weather through which the airplane must fly. Don’t make connecting flight times too short or plan to arrive at your destination late in the day. If your flight is delayed in any way, you may have trouble getting to your hotel.

2. Research what kind of help will be available on your trip should dangerous weather strike. Bad weather can strike anywhere at any time. Some countries have sophisticated weather warning systems. Others don’t. Most countries try to provide shelter in severe weather, but that shelter may not be what you’re used to. Visitors to countries like Mexico who did not plan ahead have come home with hurricane shelter horror stories.

3. Verify your travel provider’s plans whenever you think weather might cause problems. Airline representatives are not likely to know what connections are important to you. The alternatives hotels or airlines have to offer inconvenienced patrons may not be what you need. But they may be able to do more for you if you are the first to ask.

4. Be prepared for the unexpected. Few things are more unpredictable than the weather. Be prepared by bringing more than enough of essential items like medications, emergency cash and comfort food. Don’t depend on your airline or hotel to provide for all your emergency needs.

5. Know your options. Travel insurance can help provide what your travel operator can’t in emergency situations as long as you plan ahead. They can reimburse trip cancellations due to inclement weather and provide a hotel room instead of a cot in the airport if you become stranded. Tour groups and travel agents may provide minimal travel coverage for a fee, but these plans are often designed to cover the company’s possible losses not the traveler’s needs. The fine print may not even cover delays due to inclement weather. Travel insurance brokers, on the other hand, can tailor insurance to the traveler.

Then you can sit back and enjoy all the blue skies the weather might provide for your vacation knowing you have any dark clouds covered.

Doug Gulleson loves to scuba dive overseas and makes sure he has his US health care and overseas health care, http://onlineglobalhealthinsurance.com/my-travel-guard.asp , information with him at all times when he travels   Keep our blog close by you, www.gntravelinsurance.com, for continual updates on the changes with the US health care system as well as international travel insurance tips.