As Hurricane Milton struck Florida yesterday, millions of lives were affected. While the majority of Florida residents in the affected areas chose to evacuate, some remained behind. Several of those individuals were staying at Disney World, trying to enjoy their vacations. Luckily for them, Disney World is set to reopen today even after the devastation, caused by Hurricane Milton, left millions without power.
No Hurricane Will Stop The Magic Of Disney World
Yesterday, a Disney World guest shared terrifying footage of their hotel getting slammed by Hurricane Milton. While the footage showed high wind speeds and pouring rain, it looked like the damage to that immediate area was minimal. The fact that the Disney World parks are set to reopen today, Friday October 11, supports that.
ABC News shares that the "theme parks had closed Wednesday afternoon hours before Milton made landfall" in order to prepare for the storm. They remained closed on Thursday as Hurricane Milton "moved away from Florida and into the Atlantic Ocean."
This intense hurricane came just two weeks after Florida was hit by Hurricane Helene. Helene was a category 4 storm and by the time Hurricane Milton hit Disney World it was a category 3. Two hurricanes like this back to back left millions without power...but Disney prevailed.
The Disney World website shared a Hurricane Milton Update. The update read: "The Walt Disney World thee parks and Disney Springs have reopened for schedules operating hours." One area of Disney that is expected to remain closed until Sunday, October 13 is "Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground and the Treehouse Villas at Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa."
In addition to Disney World, Universal Studios and Seaworld will also be reopening on Friday. Despite millions in Florida not having power, these major parks seem to be doing fine.
What About The Rest Of Florida?
While the major theme parks like Disney World seem to be doing fine after the destruction of Hurricane Milton, not all places in Florida were as fortunate. CBS News shared that the storm "smashed through coastal communities and tore homes to pieces, flooded streets and spawned a barrage of deadly tornadoes."
So far, 16 deaths have been linked to this tragic storm. The tornadoes caused by the hurricane destroyed parts of Central and Southern Florida. One resident told CBS, "Even with the hurricanes, it's never been this bad ever." Find Energy shares the dramatic numbers of how any residents were without power. In the past 72 hours, the peak was 3,411,433 people without power. Currently, there are still 2,287,068 residents without power.
Millions of people are still without power and are struggling to work through the debris and damage left by the storm. Additionally, fuel is becoming increasingly hard to find. "Fuel stations were still closed as far away as Ocala, more than a two and a half hour drive north of where the storm made landfall." With no power or gas, many Florida residents are struggling.
On resident shared with CBS that they returned to find the roof of their house gone. "They returned to find the roof of their home scattered in sheets across the street, the wooden beams of what was their ceiling exposed to the sky." Those at Disney World should count themselves lucky that Hurricane Milton left their buildings in tact.
While Florida was one of the states that were hit the hardest, and left the most without power. Texas, Georgia, and North Carolina are all also suffering.