Hurricane Milton remains a ferocious storm that could land a once-in-a-century direct hit on Tampa and St. Petersburg, engulfing the populous region with towering storm surges and turning debris from Helene’s devastation 12 days ago into projectiles.
While the storm had previously weakened, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Tuesday that Hurricane Milton was once again a Category 5 storm.
“Milton has the potential to be one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida,” the hurricane center said.
The news forced Orlando’s tourism machine to grind to a halt on Tuesday with at least three major theme parks and the main airport announcing closures ahead of Hurricane Milton.
Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld will close their theme parks and respective entertainment facilities on Wednesday, with the latter two also closed on Thursday and Disney likely to remain closed.
Universal also canceled Halloween Horror Nights scheduled for both days.
The theme parks join Orlando International Airport, which said it would cease operations Wednesday morning. The airport is the nation’s seventh busiest and Florida’s most trafficked.
Disney World had said earlier in the day that it was open and planned only to close its campgrounds and rental cabins ahead of the storm.
The only indication at Disney Springs that a hurricane was coming had been the closure of a hot air balloon ride. “Closed due to hurricane,” an electronic sign read. “Stay safe.”
All the other stores and restaurants in the outdoor shopping, dining and entertainment complex inside the resort were open and doing brisk business.
Milton, which is expected to come ashore Wednesday, threatened to ruin the vacations of tens of thousands of tourists at Disney World.
Nicole and Zeb Downs arrived on Monday after a 21-hour drive from Arkansas, expecting a 12-day Florida vacation with their three young sons. By Tuesday afternoon, they were contemplating packing up their car and heading back.
“We are disappointed but it’s kind of out of our hands at this point,” said Zeb Downs as he strolled with his family along a still-bustling Disney Springs shopping and restaurant district at the park…
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