TOURISTS have been stranded in Disney World a mere few hours before Hurricane Milton strikes as trapped Brits say they’re “worried”.
The deadly tempest is set to smash Florida and bringing with it 160mph wind, 15ft storm surges – already forcing millions to evacuate.
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People were fearlessly captured arriving at Walt Disney World as Hurricane Milton vastly approaches Florida.
Among those staying at the Orlando park are Brits Terence and Cian, who are residing at Disney’s Pop Century resort as Florida braces for the deadly hurricane.
The couple from Basingstoke, England, told Sky News they’d been warned that all Disney Parks and Disney Springs would close from 2pm local time and were likely to remain closed throughout Thursday.
Terence said he had heard other guests attempting to arrange early flights home – but now the local airport has been closed.
He added that he and his husband had been forced to cancel dinner plans in another resort as there is no transport available.
Terence said: “It’s early, but it’s quiet.
“It’s raining quite a bit today, but at the moment it feels fairly normal for Orlando.
“It’s hard to know about the rest of the week until the storm hits and the damage becomes clearer.”
But he says the staff at Disney have reassured the pair that it is “one of the safest places to ride out a storm.”
Terence added: “One cast member told us that when the power goes out in Florida, the first place to get back online are the hospitals, the second place is Disney.
“The news over here is really talking about the storm as a life and death event, so it is a bit worrying, but we’re keeping positive and making the most of it.”
Florida has a few hours left before Hurricane Milton fatally hits.
The tempest’s “skull” shape has been captured via satellite image and locals who refuse to flee are warned to write their names on their arm.
Terrifying footage of the eerie face shows the Category 4 hurricane as it barrels towards the Florida coastline – ready to ruin anything in it’s path as millions evacuate to stand a chance of living.
The National Hurricane Center has now warned on X that as the hurricane looms, “the time to prepare, including evacuate” is “quickly coming to an end”.
Those who are refusing to flee Milton have also been told to write their names in permanent ink on their arm.
Florida’s Attorney General has desperately hinted that if residents were to stay, writing their names on their arms would make bodies easier to identify later.
Ashley Moody made the spine-chilling comment in a press conference with Republican Senator Rick Scott on Monday as she addressed residents going against evacuation orders.
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She warned any Floridians who weren’t to evacuate “probably need to write your name in permanent marker on your arm so that people know who you are when they get to you afterwards.”
Referring to Hurricane Helene’s devastation last week, Moody also added that officials are still “uncovering folks on the beach who thought they could stay there, and the storm surge got them”.
As the hurricane gets closer to land the intensity of the storm will increase, raising the risk of tornadoes forming ahead of the main storm.
Florida’s National Guard are also said to be prepping the largest search and rescue moblizisation in history.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said there are 9,000 Guardsmen deployed, with one-third who have come from other states, with 26 search and rescue teams in place.
He added: “This is the largest Florida National Guard search and rescue mobilization in the entire history of the state of Florida.
“They are currently embedded in the potential impact sites along the west coast to begin immediate rescue operations as soon as the storm passes.”
Among Milton’s deadly chaos, storm chasers were captured being battered by extreme turbulence as they flew into the eye of the hurricane.
Scary footage shows scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) being thrown around the flight.
The aircraft named “Miss Piggy” was collecting data on the hurricane heading towards Tampa on Tuesday morning when the footage was captured.
Hurricane Milton has spawned two large tornadoes in Florida just hours before the 155mph storm makes landfall.
Locals have been told their home is a “coffin” as the Category 4 hurricane is set to bring 15-foot wave surges that could completely submerge houses in parts of the state.
The two large tornadoes were filmed crossing Interstate 75 in the Florida Everglades at around 10 a.m. local time – and were seen moving north between the towns of Miles City and Andytown.
Milton is bearing down on the state with 155mph winds as the “storm of the century” is set to make landfall in Florida.
The hurricane is now at Category 4 strength after weakening very slightly from wind speeds of 160mph overnight.
It is expected to remain a Category 4 storm as it strikes just south of Tampa at 2 am Thursday.
More than three million people are now at risk of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes are possible, the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) warns.
A tornado watch has also been issued for Florida south of Tampa down to the Florida Keys by the National Weather Service.
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It says tornadoes are “likely”, hail up to half an inch in size is possible, and gusts of 70mph are likely until 9pm tonight.
That could expose 12million in major cities like Miami to the extreme conditions.
Its thought conditions will only worsen after then.
Milton is set to hit just south of Tampa leading authorities in the city to put up flood barriers.
The fence successfully protected the facility from Hurricane Helene’s floodwaters about two weeks ago.
Tampa General Hospital, which sits on the edge of Tampa Bay, is set to stay open and is erecting an AquaFence to try and withstand a surge.
The hospital has an on-site energy plant, a five-day stockpile of food, and staff trained in emergency management to ride out the tempest.
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor warned the city’s almost 400,000 residents to urgently evacuate.
Underwood took to X and posted about the flight after the footage was posted by NOAA.
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She told CNN: “I can say this without any dramatization whatsoever: if you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you are going to die.”
She said the 15ft storm surge predicted for the city would be deep enough to swallow a house.
Castor said: “So if you’re in it, basically that’s the coffin that you’re in.”
The hurricane has brought the state’s tourism industry to its knees with cruise ships not able to dock, evacuation orders, and cancelled flights.
Disney World and Universal Studios in Orlando are also set to close in preparation for the storm.
There are fears Milton is set to be west Florida’s version of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 or 2017’s Hurricane Harvey.
Katrina killed 1,400 people and wrought $125billion damage on the US economy.
Milton is expected to be a low-level Category 4 when it lands – putting its winds at the bottom of the 130-156mph range.
US President Joe Biden said those staying in their homes were facing “a matter of life and death”.
He said: “This could be the worst storm to hit Florida in over a century, and God willing, it won’t be, but that’s what it’s looking like right now.”
Transport links out of central Florida are chaotic or blocked entirely as people try and flee to safety.
Sheriff Chad Chronister or Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa, said they have already seen flooding in the city.
He told CNN: “This is the 11th hour. If you’re in an evacuation zone, the time to get out is now.”
St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport is being transformed into a mandatory evacuation zone after the final flight leaves today.
Orlando Airport have stopped all operations, effective from 8am today.
Over 4,600 prisoners are also being moved due to Milton, say Florida’s Department of Corrections.
Thousands of terrified residents have tried to flee towards Miami with motorways left at a standstill.
Tampa’s main airport closed on 9am Tuesday with officials saying it will remain empty until the weather conditions improve.
Florida is already waterlogged after Hurricane Helene hit a fortnight ago meaning more rain won’t drain into the ground.
Bull sharks swam in the streets of the bayside town of Punta Gorda just two weeks ago when Hurricane Helene hit.
Officials said they are still uncovering bodies on the beach who they cannot identify after they believed they could ride out the storm.
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What is a hurricane and how do they form?
A HURRICANE is another name for a tropical cyclone – a powerful storm that forms over warm ocean waters near the equator.
Those arising in the Atlantic or eastern Pacific are called hurricanes, while those in the western Pacific and Indian Ocean are dubbed typhoons or cyclones.
North of the equator they spin anticlockwise because of the rotation of the Earth, however, they turn the opposite way in the southern hemisphere.
Cyclones are like giant weather engines fuelled by water vapor as it evaporates from the sea.
Warm, moist air rises away from the surface, creating a low-pressure system that sucks in air from surrounding areas – which in turn is warmed by the ocean.
As the vapour rises it cools and condenses into swirling bands of cumulonimbus storm clouds.
The system grows and spins faster, sucking in more air and feeding off the energy in seawater that has been warmed by the sun.
At the center, a calm “eye” of the storm is created where cooled air sinks towards the ultra-low pressure zone below, surrounded by spiraling winds of warm air rising.
The faster the wind, the lower the air pressure at the center, and the storm grows stronger and stronger.
Tropical cyclones usually weaken when they hit land as they are no longer fed by evaporation from the warm sea.
But they often move far inland – dumping vast amounts of rain and causing devastating wind damage – before the “fuel” runs out and the storm peters out.
Hurricanes can also cause storm surges when the low air pressure sucks the sea level higher than normal, swamping low-lying coasts.
