Tuesday, October 8, 2024 Florida is facing significant travel disruptions as Hurricane Milton forces the closure of Orlando International and Tampa International airports. With the storm rapidly approaching, major theme parks like Disney World and Universal Orlando are bracing for impact, preparing for potential closures and safety measures. Meanwhile, cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean and Carnival have altered their routes to steer clear of the hurricane, with other lines making similar adjustments to avoid dangerous conditions.
A hurricane warning is in full effect across Central Florida as Hurricane Milton prepares to hit land on Wednesday. Although the storm has slightly weakened, the National Hurricane Center warns that the Category 4 hurricane still packs “devastating hurricane force winds” and threatens to unleash historic floods across the region. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis responded quickly to the threat, declaring a state of emergency for 51 counties over the weekend.
He first issued the declaration on Saturday for 35 counties and followed up by adding another 16 on Sunday. Notably, this includes areas housing major attractions like Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, and SeaWorld. Air travel has already been severely impacted as Hurricane Milton nears.
As of 11:45 a.m. ET Tuesday, nearly 700 U.
S. flights have been canceled, and an additional 1,500 flights have been axed for Wednesday, according to FlightAware. The storm’s path is forcing airlines and .