Tourists head back home from the Central Coast after holiday weekend

MONTEREY, Calif. (KION-TV): The holiday weekend is winding down and people are making their way back home after spending some days on the Central Coast.

Mike Evenson visited family in Seaside for the Fourth of July weekend. He said he was supposed to fly back to Houston on Sunday, but his flight got cancelled because of hurricane Beryl.

"Hurricane hit and they delayed my flight, and so I'm heading back today, hopefully, the house is intact," said Evenson, who lives in Cypress, Texas.

Evenson said his flight for Monday afternoon was only about ten minutes delayed and he just​ wants to make it back home.

"I've seen pictures of what's happened in Houston and I think we just lost electricity," said Evenson.

Just like Evenson, millions of other people traveled for the Fourth of July weekend. According to AAA, more than five million people flew to their destination.

"We saw tremendous traffic, we saw lots of people. Operations were very consistent, positive and on time," said Michael La Pier, Executive Director for the Monterey Regional Airport.

People like Craig Lassiter visited the Monterey Peninsula from Connecticut. He said he avoids the big airports, especially during the holidays.

"I didn't want to go through all of that. Monterey is a nice easy airport; in and out no problems," said Lassiter. "That's why I came this way."

According to TSA, three million airline passengers were screened at airports across the country on Sunday.