Milton slams into Florida, causes widespread damage; 3+ million without power

More than three million people are without power across Florida after Hurricane Milton made landfall near Siesta Key on Wednesday night (Oct. 9) as a Category 3 storm.

The headline-making storm initially brought winds of up to 100mph, reports say, downing power lines and causing structural damage and trees.

In St. Petersburg and Tampa, more than 18 inches of rain fell, while Clearwater Beach reported over 14 inches of rain.

St. Petersburg, in particular, has seen significant damage from Milton. As the storm barrelled though, a crane reportedly crashed into a newspaper building and the roof of Tropicana Field, Major League Baseball stadium, was ripped off.

Meanwhile, deaths were reported in St. Lucie County after a ripped tore through a mobile home retirement community, CNN is reporting.

Milton weakened into a Category 1 as it cut through the state and moved offshore, according to the National Hurricane Centre (NHC). It is the fifth hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. this year. Hurricane Helene, less than two weeks ago, left a trail of destruction.

As of early Thursday (Oct. 10) some 3.25 million energy customers across central Florida are in the dark without power, according to PowerOutage.us.

The storm made its way across Florida as a Category 1 hurricane and forecasters are warning that power networks could possibly take weeks to fix.

All hurricane and tropical storm warnings have been discontinued or the west coast of Florida, said the NHC early Thursday.

“There is a danger of life-threatening storm surge along the coast from east-central Florida northward to southern Georgia, where a Storm Surge Warning remains in effect,” added Visit Florida in an Oct. 10 statement posted to its website.

“Damaging hurricane-force winds, especially in gusts, will continue for a few more hours in east-central and northeastern Florida. Residents are urged to remain in an interior room and away from windows.”

In addition, heavy rainfall across the central to northern Florida Peninsula through this morning continues to bring the risk of considerable flash and urban flooding along with moderate to major river flooding, especially in areas where coastal and inland flooding combine to increase the overall flood threat, the tourism marketing corporation wrote.

A hurricane warning is now in effect for Florida’s east coast from the St. Lucie/Martin County Line northward to Ponte Vedra Beach, says the NHC.

The NHC’s warning extends to the northwestern Bahamas, including Grand Bahama Island, the Abacos, and Bimini.

Theme park updates

As a result of the storm, Walt Disney World’s theme parks and Disney Springs are closed through Thursday, October 10. 

This includes the cancellation of Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party (event tickets will be refunded).

For partially used multi-day tickets, ticket expiration dates will be adjusted to expire on October 11, 2025. View more details. 

Universal Orlando Resort has also made the following operational changes:

• On Thursday, Oct. 10, Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure, Volcano Bay and Universal CityWalk will be closed.
• Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Florida is canceled for Thursday, Oct. 10.
• Hotels remain operational.

The theme park is anticipating a full reopening, including Halloween Horror Nights, on Friday, Oct. 11 at normal operating hours.

1,900+ flights cancelled

More than 1,900 flights were cancelled across the U.S. on Wednesday ahead of Milton’s landfall, according to FlightAware.

Tampa International Airport (TPA) closed Tuesday ahead of the storm. The facility said it will provide updates on its reopening on social media.

Orlando International Airport (MCO) suspended operations at 8 a.m. Wednesday. “We'll resume operations as soon as it's safe, based on damage assessments,” the airport wrote on X last night.

Miami International Airport (MIA) remained open, but flights may be cancelled there.

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) also remained open.

YYZ warns of cancellations

Yesterday, Toronto Pearson warned travellers to be mindful of flight cancellations due to the hurricane. Anyone with a flight is advised to check their status before leaving for the airport.

“We’re continuing to monitor Hurricane Milton as the powerful storm moves towards Florida with an expected landfall in the next 24 hours,” wrote Toronto Pearson on X. “Some Canadian airlines have released travel advisories and cancelled flights for [Wednesday] and [Thursday]. If your plans include travelling to Florida this week, we recommend you check your flight status with your airline.”

As well, as previously reported, Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises and Margaritaville at Sea all changed schedules for some ships, offering alternative ports of call and sail times.

Canadian airlines respond

Canadian airlines have also activated flexible rebooking policies for flights to impacted regions.

Air Canada has revised its ticketing policy to make it easier for customers travelling on an affected flight to make changes to their booking without penalty (space permitting).

A flexible policy up until Oct. 12 applies to flights heading to Miami, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers and Orlando. Click here for more.

WestJet, too, has waivers on flights to Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, Orlando and Fort Myers until Oct. 12. The airline has also added a flexible rebooking policy for flights heading to Nassau, Bahamas for travel up until Oct. 11. Click here for details.

Porter Airlines is also offering complimentary changes to select Florida flights.

Up until Oct. 10, a waiver may be issued, allowing passengers to change their booking to fly earlier or later than scheduled, avoiding potential travel disruptions. Click here for details.

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