It was only a couple of weeks ago that Florida prepared for the arrival of Hurricane Helene. Yet now, the entire state is in the eye of Hurricane Milton which – at the time of writing – has just been upgraded to a category 5 hurricane, with sustained winds of 160mph.

Orlando and the theme park areas – Walt Disney and Universal – are potentially going to take a direct hit by the storm. As yet, it has not yet caused the parks or MCO – the Orlando International Airport – to close, but Disney are making preparations. They already suspended hotel and park reservations over the weekend for Wednesday – the day the storm is due to make landfall.

A few hours ago, Tampa International Airport announced it is suspending flight operations as of 9am Tuesday (local time) until it is safe to re-open.

Update: At 1:15pm local time on Monday 7th October, MCO also announced it is suspending commercial operations on Wednesday morning. Like TPA, they have committed to re-open when it is safe to do so, so there’s no timeframe of when locals or tourists can fly back in and out again.

Shortly after announcing this news, the website for MCO was unavailable – presumably under heavy load.

Update: with around 30 hours to go until Milton makes landfall, both Disney and Universal have announced the closures of their relevant parks.

Disney is operating a phased closure, with Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom closing at 1pm tomorrow, 9th October. Magic Kingdom, EPCOT and Disney Springs will close at 2pm.

Universal are similarly closing Universal Studios, Volcano Bay and Universal CityWalk at 2pm on the 9th October.

All parks and attractions will be closed all day on the 10th October.

This storm is being compared to the likes of Katrina, Irma and Wilma. It is reportedly going to be the most intense storm to hit Tampa Bay in 100 years. We are not likely to forget its name in a hurry.

Stay safe out there.