Hurricane Milton: Travel industry braced as Florida battens down hatches

Milton is currently approaching the west coast of the state and due to hit the Tampa area tonight. 

The National Hurricane Center is still classing Milton as a “catastrophic” category five event, but the BBC reports it could weaken from its current status to a category three storm as it makes landfall. Milton was downgraded to a category four on Wednesday afternoon.

Despite this, reports suggest Milton could be the worst storm to hit the area in roughly a century - with a surge of up to 15 feet and up to 18 inches of rain.

Even if Milton loses strength, the direction of its approach means it will gather waves from the Western Gulf of Mexico.

John Morales, a Florida meteorologist, told the BBC: “Generally hurricanes will come from the western Caribbean and come at Florida’s west coast at an oblique angle. This one instead is coming from the Western Gulf of Mexico. That’s going to drive a storm surge even higher."

Disneyworld told TTG it would begin closing its attractions “in phases” from 1pm local time today (9 October). Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park will close at 1pm. Magic Kingdom park, Epcot and Disney Springs will close at 2pm.

It said: “It is likely the theme parks will remain closed on Thursday, October 10. We will consider opening Disney Springs on Thursday in the late afternoon with limited offerings. This includes the cancellation of Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom park on Thursday, October 10. Event tickets will be refunded.

“Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground and the Treehouse Villas at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa will temporarily close beginning at 11am on Wednesday, October 9. They are likely to remain closed until Sunday, October 13.

Universal Destinations and Experiences said it would close Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure and Universal CityWalk at 2pm today and on Thursday.

It added: “Our hotels remain operational as they focus on taking care of our guests. We anticipate a full reopening of our destination, including Halloween Horror Nights, on Friday, October 11 at our normal operating hours pending the outcome of storm impacts.”

Meanwhile, Florida has declared a state of emergency and closed Tampa and Orlando airports. Tampa airport is scheduled to reopen at 8am on 11 October. Orlando airport plans to reopen at 6pm on 10 October.

Melbourne airport, used by Tui, is also closed. Tui said it had had to cancel today’s flight from Gatwick.

Two flights scheduled to operate to Melbourne from Glasgow and Birmingham on Thursday 10 October will also not operate. 

Tui said: “We intend to delay these flights for a minimum of 24 hours and operate them on Friday 11th October. We will be in contact with customers directly to confirm their new flight times.”

Virgin Atlantic said: “Due to severe weather conditions expected to be caused by Hurricane Milton, a state of emergency has been declared in Florida, and Tampa and Orlando airports are closing. Unfortunately this has impacted our flying schedule, and services to and from Orlando and Tampa are subject to cancellations and delays.”

Virgin has cancelled services from Heathrow to Tampa and Orlando and from Manchester to Orlando.

British Airways said: “As with other airlines, we are adjusting our flight schedules where airport closures occur and providing any affected customers with alternatives, including flight rebooking options or full refunds.”

Both airlines are still operating to Miami.