Locals react to travel alert
Travelers at the Santa Maria Airport seemed a little surprised when told about thetravel alert. The alert went out onFriday to those traveling abroad. Warnings went out when the StateDepartment learned thatal Qaeda affiliates are planning terrorist attacks that can happenbefore the end of August in North Africa and the Middle East.
Travelers like April Andersen and her son say they weren’t aware of the terror threat but it wouldn’t change their plans.Other travelers who knew about the alert say that depending on where the alert was placed, their plans wouldn’t change either. They would just become more aware of their surroundings.
Alerts are important to travelers but many said they were used to them.
“It’s just a part of the world we live in,” saidPaul Jamin, a traveler at the Santa Maria Airport.
Airport officials said that while the travel alert was on, they recommend all travelers to arrive extra early to airports because there could be some extra security checkpoints.