Hurricane Milton made landfall on the west coast of Florida late on Wednesday night with the state expected to be hit by winds of up to 165mph as well as a ‘life-threatening’ storm surge
Brits are sheltering in their holiday homes or fleeing as the ferocious Hurricane Milton sweeps across Florida.
The huge storm made landfall in Siesta Key around 1.30am GMT after days of building in the Gulf of Mexico before deluging towns and cities like Sarasota, St Petersburg, and Tampa Bay with inches of rainfall every hour. Nearly three million homes and businesses have been left without power. Multiple people have died after Hurricane Milton made landfall with terrifying wind speeds of around 120mph and storm surges of up to 12 feet of water.
Five people who found themselves in the path of destruction were the Ball family, who were on a holiday from their homes in Billericay, Essex to celebrate their daughter overcoming leukaemia, Mail Online reported.
The family had arrived at Disney World Orlando on Saturday for what was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime, online for the hurricane to shut the park. They were forced to evacuate their hotel before being whisked to emergency accommodation by Disney.
Have you been affected by Hurricane Milton? Email webtravel@reachplc.com
Eerie footage from the theme park shows it empty and trees bending in the wind as great gusts whip across it. Many British families have had flights to Florida cancelled, with those already there having to bunker down.
Jonathan Ball – who is there with his wife and their three children – told how the family had seen water supplies stripped in shops. “We were in a taxi and one of the drivers said ‘You know it’s bad if Disney closes’ – and Disney is closing,” he told the Mail.
“We’ve had lots of messages, mostly saying how gutted they are for us. Everyone’s worried but they know we’re in a safe place now.”
British woman Jennie Flin told the BBC that she was caught up in Hurricane Milton on her honeymoon, having also been evacuated earlier when Hurricane Helene hit the state. “We were evacuated out of Clearwater during Hurricane Helene and now we’re experiencing our second hurricane on our honeymoon,” she told the publication.
Chris, 32, and Leah Kennedy, 27, had saved up for a honeymoon to the typically warm and sunny state, only to leave their Bedfordshire home to find themselves hunkering down with five others in a single hotel room as the hurricane passes.
But now all seven of them are bunkered in a single room on the eighth floor of a hotel at Orlando’s Universal park as they wait for the hurricane to arrive.
“We’re trying to stop them from looking out the window, which is a very hard task at the moment, when you’re hearing everything. We’ve played a lot of UNO and a lot of heads up games just to try and keep everyone occupied,” Leah told Mail Online.
Hunkered down with provisions including a generator, batteries, lanterns, food, and water, Kate Collins, 52, fortified her home against Hurricane Milton on Wednesday. Although not in an evacuation zone, she told of the precautionary measures that had been taken in Volusia County, which is gripped by a mandatory curfew from 8pm Wednesday.
“Some neighbours have boarded their windows and it is eerily quiet. Store shelves are pretty empty and the majority of essentials like water and gas for cars and batteries are hard if not impossible to find.”
Ms Collins recounted surviving numerous hurricanes in Florida but noted “nothing quite like this since Charley in 2004”, which stripped part of her roof and left her without power for days. She expressed more concern for her loved ones than her property. She said: “I am far less concerned about my house than the safety of my family and friends. You can replace material items but not loss of life. Of course it would be devastating but we can rebuild.
“There is no doubt that our state will experience devastating loss due to the size and intensity of this storm, we can only pray that it does not include loss of lives.”
Mark Firth, a 43-year-old Brit, evacuated with his wife Paola and their two kids, 7-year-old Sam, and 5-year-old Sienna, from Lakeland situated around 45 minutes’ drive from Tampa due to worries over Hurricane Ian’s threat.
The Nottingham-born entrepreneur admitted: “Everything’s at home. I mean, it’s not ideal, it’s very unsettling, it’s very uncertain about what is going to be there when we get back. We’re not on the coast but we decided that we wanted to leave anyway, because it’s the power, it’s the infrastructure and also, I believe, having the ability to get out, we should leave the resources for the people who need to stay.”
Sarah James, deputy digital editor at Condé Nast Traveller, told the Mirror of the reality facing those caught up in Florida this week. She said: “Florida airports have begun shuttering operations in preparation for the storm. Travellers with plans to visit Florida this week or in the near future should be modifying itineraries, requesting refunds, and monitoring email and texts for alerts from travel providers. Airlines have been adapting by adding additional flights out of Florida and offering travel waivers. Although it’s possible to cancel or reschedule flights, travellers who want to change destinations for this week might be face additional challenges.”
“Most travel insurance policies reimburse travellers if their trips are cancelled, interrupted, or delayed by hurricanes, so long as the coverage was bought before the hurricane was named. Trips that were booked on a credit card also offer a certain level of protection when it comes to getting your money back.”
