Irish holidaymakers in southern coastal areas of Florida are being evacuated to the central part of the state ahead of the expected “catastrophic” landfall of Hurricane Milton.
The Category 5 storm, described as the worst the state has faced since the 1920s, is due to strike some time late on Wednesday or early Thursday.
More than one million people in coastal areas are under evacuation orders, while there is a possibility the storm could directly hit the Tampa Bay metropolitan area with its population of more than three million.
Flights from Ireland to Florida have been cancelled while the Department of Foreign Affairs is advising all Irish citizens to “follow any advice given by local officials and evacuate if told to do so”.
Travel company American Holidays has arranged for 70 Irish people on holiday in coastal areas to move to central areas of the state.
The company’s Bladhana Richardson told RTÉ radio’s Today with Claire Byrne the majority of Irish tourists are in the Orlando area, not on the coast or in the direct path of the hurricane.
“Anyone who has been on the coast, we have moved into central Florida. So away from the known affected areas,” Ms Richardson said.
“It is mainly couples at the moment. We do have some families, but as it’s outside of school holidays, thankfully there’s less families traveling at the moment.”
Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld theme parks are closed today with the latter two also closed tomorrow and Disney likely to also remain closed.
A direct 2pm Aer Lingus flight today was cancelled. Orlando International Airport his ceasing all operations from today and through Thursday.
Aer Lingus said passengers planning to travel in the coming days to Florida, particularly Orlando, that they can rebook to travel on an alternative date within the next seven days. Flights from the UK to Florida have also been cancelled.
The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) has described Milton as a “catastrophic” and “dangerous” major hurricane.
