Flying south? Where to vacation and where to avoid in the aftermath of natural disasters

With so many popular tourist destinations hit hard by hurricanes, wildfires and earthquakes in recent weeks, the Alberta Motor Association's travel experts are warning sunseekers to do their research before hopping on a flight.

Travel insurance becomes null and void in places where there's a government-issued travel advisory, cautions AMA Travel's Nikola Berube.

"That's one of the stipulations of travel insurance, you can't knowingly travel into an area that is not recommended for travel by the government," she said.

"And so places like St. Maarten and St. Thomas and San Juan that are still under a government-issued travel advisory we don't recommend that yougothere at this time."

AMA Travel put together a list detailing the latest status of each Caribbean destination in the wake of the recent hurricanes and tropical storms:

• Dominican Republic: Reopened.
• Cuba: Hotels in Varadero, Holguin, Havana, Cayo Largo, Camaguey, Varadero, Santa Clara, Cayo Guillermo are operational, but Cayo Coco and Cayo Santa Maria are not receiving visitors.
• Jamaica: Unaffected by storms.
• Bahamas: Reopened.
• Barbados: Unaffected by storms.
• St. Lucia: Reopened.
• Cayman Islands: Unaffected by storms.
• Grenada: Unaffected by storms.
• Trinidad and Tobago: Unaffected by storms.
• Antigua: Reopened.
• Saint Kitts and Nevis: Unaffected by storms.
• St. Vincent and the Grenadines: Unaffected by storms.
• Barbuda: Closed for foreseeable future.
• St. Maartin/Netherlands Antilles: Flights cancelled until late December.
• Turks and Caicos, Providenciales: Reopened.
• Puerto Rico: Flights cancelled until late December.
• Dominica: Closed for foreseeable future.
• British Virgin Islands: Mostly closed.
• Guadeloupe: High degree of caution recommended.
• U.S. Virgin Islands: Avoid all travel.
• Montserrat: Reopened.
• Martinique: Reopened.
• Anguilla: Reopened.

Major destinations in Florida are largely cleaned up after being hit by Hurricane Irma, AMA Travel says.

The Florida Keys and Naples are open for business, the theme parks in Orlando have reopened,while Tampa and Miami were mostly unaffected.

Tourist destinations in Texas have all been cleaned up in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.

Destinations in Mexico City andAcapulco have reopened after a devastating earthquake struck on Sept.19.

Cancun, Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan were unaffected by the quake.

Cabo San Lucas has reopened after being batteredby Tropical Storm Lidia last month.

Global Affairs Canada is advising against all but essential travel to areas in California affectedby wildfires, including Napa, Sonoma, Yuba, Butte, Mendocino and Orange and Nevada counties.

• MORE ALBERTA NEWS|'Business support fee' chopped at Calgary Brazilian steakhouse amid backlash, threats
• MORE ALBERTA NEWS|Calgary councillor denies making 'Johnny Jew from New York' remark, says he meant 'Jimmy Choo'