Irish travel company American Holidays has been rearranging travel plans for 70 Irish people who are in Florida at present to take them out of the path of Hurricane Milton.
Hurricane Milton is currently churning towards a potentially catastrophic collision along the west coast of Florida. Millions of people have been ordered to evacuate and local officials have warned that stragglers would face grim odds of surviving.
According to American Holiday’s Bladhana Richardson, the company has moved 70 Irish tourists from the coast, to central Florida, and they are in constant contact.
Speaking on RTÉ radio’s Today with Claire Byrne, she said: “Anyone who has been on the coast, we have moved into central Florida, away from the known affected areas.
“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.
“We’re in constant contact with them. We have been moving their bookings if we need to move them.
According to Ms Richardson, the theme parks in Orlando are to close at 2pm today, and will remained closed tomorrow.
“All of those hotels and parks are fully equipped to deal with known hurricanes, so follow local advice.
“We are keeping people updated on forums like Facebook and social media on some of the experiences they might have booked,” she said.
Ms Richardson also confirmed that the people who were scheduled to travel to the Tampa area in the next 24 hours have been contacted and their travel is being rearranged.
“We understand that the airports continue to be closed or flights are being cancelled or rearranged. We are constantly in contact with them.
“Anyone who has a booking with another tour operator or travel agent, we would strongly advise them to contact them so they can also help their travel be re-managed. And I’m sure that those tour operators and travel agents are doing that currently,” she concluded.
The Tampa Bay area is home to more than 3.3 million people.
The US National Hurricane Centre predicted Milton, a monstrous Category 5 hurricane during much of its approach, would likely weaken but remain a major hurricane when it makes landfall late on Wednesday.
Milton was centred early on Wednesday about 360 miles south-west of Tampa with maximum sustained winds of 160mph, the National Hurricane Centre reported.
Forecasters predicted the storm will retain hurricane strength as it crosses central Florida on Thursday on a path east toward the Atlantic Ocean.
The hurricane’s precise track remains uncertain, as forecasters on Tuesday evening nudged its projected path slightly south of Tampa.
Thousands of fleeing cars clogged Florida’s major roads ahead of the storm, but time for evacuations is running out on Wednesday.
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor noted that up to 15ft of storm surge forecast for her city would be deep enough to swallow an entire house.
“So if you’re in it, basically, that’s the coffin that you’re in,” she said.
Milton targets communities that are still reeling two weeks after Hurricane Helene flooded streets and homes in western Florida along its devasting route that left at least 230 dead across the South.
