How Hurricane Milton Will Impact Central Florida
Hurricane Milton is currently on its way to Florida as a major storm. We’ve been keeping an eye on things from Disney World’s cancelation policies to the path of the storm.
Image Credit: Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images || Hurricane Dorian
And now, we’ve got an update on how Milton is expected to impact Central Florida.
Hurricane Milton to Impact Central Florida
Hurricane Milton is currently a Category 4 storm with winds of 155 miles per hour (just 1 mph below Category 5 status), according to WESH. Yesterday, it became a Category 5 storm with winds topping 180 miles per hour but has lost a little bit of strength.
Photo: WESH
The storm is in the Gulf of Mexico and is threatening Florida, with forecasters saying that the storm will “expand in size” before it makes landfall.
Milton is supposed to make landfall along Florida’s west coast on Wednesday night into Thursday morning, but models can change before then. There should be direct impacts in the Tampa area.
Photo: National Hurricane Center
The National Hurricane Center is urging people to “evacuate if told to do so by local officials.”
A Hurricane Warning is currently in effect for both Orange and Osceola Counties, which are the counties where Disney World is located. The full list of areas under a Hurricane Warning are:
- Celestun to Rio Lagartos
- Florida’s west coast from Bonita Beach northward to the mouth of the Suwannee River, including Tampa Bay
- Florida’s east coast from the Indian River/St. Lucie County line northward to Ponte Vedra Beach
- Marion County
- Orange County
- Lake County
- Osceola County
- Polk County
- Sumter County
- Flagler County
- Volusia County
- Brevard County
Photo: People
A Storm Surge Warning is in effect for both the West coast of Florida from Flamingo northward to the Suwannee River, including Charlotte Harbor and Tampa Bay and the East coast of Florida from Port Canaveral northward to the mouth of the St. Mary’s River, including the St. Johns River.
Other areas of Florida are under Storm Surge Watches, Hurricane Watches, Tropical Storm Warnings, and Tropical Storm Watches. You can see the full list right here.
Photo: Str/Xinhua/Zuma
The greatest impacts from Hurricane Milton will be from storm surge, rainfall, and high winds. The storm surge will raise water levels and create “large and destructive waves” with rainfall adding to the destruction.
Threats for sustained winds and gusts of hurricane strength are increasingly high in Central Florida. Milton is currently forecast to create winds topping 100 miles per hour in some areas. Every county in Central Florida is also under a flood watch or tropical advisory.
Photo: GREGG NEWTON/AFP/Getty Images, Hurricane Matthew, 2022
Hurricane Milton comes right after Hurricane Helene, which caused major damage in the Florida Big Bend region as a Category 4 storm. Many people are still recovering as they brace for this next storm.
We also just learned that Universal Orlando Resort will be closing early tomorrow.
Universal Orlando
Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure, and Universal CityWalk will close at 2PM tomorrow and be closed on Thursday, October 10th. Volcano Bay will be closed on both days and Halloween Horror Nights has been canceled on both nights (October 9th & 10th). Universal’s hotels remain open to take care of guests.
And, note that Tampa International Airport is now closed and Orlando International Airport will be ceasing commercial operations starting tomorrow morning.
Stay tuned for more Disney World news and updates.
