Florida has been told to brace for "life-threatening" storm surges as Hurricane Ian continues to ravage the east coast state.
The hurricane made landfall on Wednesday (28 September), and as of Thursday (29 September), was downgraded from a category four to a category one storm.
At 11pm eastern time yesterday (28 September), the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned "widespread, life-threatening catastrophic flooding" will continue across portions of central Florida overnight.
"Considerable" flooding in the north of the state, southeastern Georgia and eastern South Carolina is expected on Thursday (29 September) through the end of the week.
The NHC further warned of "life-threatening" storm surges on Thursday (29 September) and Friday (30 September) along the coasts of northeast Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.
The UK Foreign Office said: "Strong winds and heavy rainfall are expected. There is a severe and life threatening risk of flooding from rain and coastal storm surges."
Here’s how the storm has continued to impact Florida overnight and the expected repercussions of further poor weather conditions over the coming days.
Walt Disney World Resort remains closed on Thursday (29 September). This includes Magic Kingdom Park, EPCOT, Animal Kingdom Theme Park, Hollywood Studios and others.
Guests will be unable to check in to the park on Thursday (29 September) and those planning to arrive on Friday (30 September) will not be able to until after 3pm.
Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom has been cancelled on Thursday (29 September), as well as Star Wars Galactic Staircruiser voyages and Disney Springs.
Universal Orlando Resort – which also closed its doors on Thursday (29 September) – said: "We anticipate reopening the event on Friday (30 September) conditions permitting."
Port Miami, Tampa, Jacksonville and Port Canaveral all remain closed on Thursday (29 September).
As a result, Carnival Cruise Line has cancelled Carnival Paradise’s four-day sailing from Tampa, Carnival Elation’s four-day voyage from Jacksonville and Carnival Liberty’s three-day sailing from Port Canaveral.
Elsewhere, Royal Caribbean has moved Mariner of the Seas’ departure from Port Canaveral from Thursday (29 September) to Saturday (1 October). The vessel will no longer call at Nassau.
Independence of the Seas’ planned departure from Port Canaveral on Friday (30 September) has also been moved to Saturday (1 October). The ship will be unable to call at the line’s private island, Perfect Day at CocoCay.
A spokesperson said: "We continue to monitor the remnants of Hurricane Ian as it continues a northward trajectory and will contact booked guests and travel advisors as soon as possible, should any itineraries be impacted."
Virgin Atlantic has cancelled eight flights to/from London, Manchester and Edinburgh to/from Orlando after the airport ceased operations on Wednesday (28 September) and Thursday (29 September).
The airport is expected to resume commercial flights "sometime" on Friday (30 September), depending on a damage assessment to airport property.
A spokesperson for Virgin Atlantic said: "We’re working hard to find available seats and rebook you onto an alternative flight, but due to the limited availability, your new flights may depart on a different date, involve travel via a connecting airport or depart/arrive at an alternative airport."
Elsewhere, Tui has cancelled its Glasgow and Birmingham flights to Melbourne-Orlando (MLB) on Thursday (29 September) and its Gatwick and Newcastle services to the airport on Friday (30 September).
MLB said: "Our air carriers have been notified of the closure and we will continue to work closely with them to return to normal operations as quickly as possible following the storm.
"We will reopen as soon as it is safe, and we will continue to communicate with our airlines to get passengers to their destinations as quickly as possible."
However, Major Florida Keys and Key West infrastructure remained intact throughout the 125-mile-long island chain, with Key West airport planning to reopen Thursday morning (29 September).
Visitors have been advised to check directly with airlines for flight availability. Keys state parks, attractions, venues, watersports activities, restaurants and bars are to reopen in coming days
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