A holiday in Florida turned into a nerve-wracking experience for an Edinburgh mum as she captured eerie footage of deserted Disney World during Hurricane Milton’s landfall. The mum, who arrived in Orlando from Manchester Airport on Wednesday, was one of many tourists who found themselves in the path of the deadly storm while evacuation orders swept across the US.
As Hurricane Milton barreled towards Florida, bringing surges of 150mph winds and devastating floodwaters of up to ten feet, authorities urged residents and visitors to stay indoors. Multiple fatalities have been reported as the hurricane’s fury intensified. Although Milton was downgraded to category one after making landfall, it caused significant disruption across the state.
Desperate Measures and Terrifying Footage
The mum, known by her TikTok handle @UnorganisedMummy, shared updates with her followers from the Animal Kingdom Lodge, a popular Disney World resort, as the storm gathered strength. Shops around the area had boarded up their windows in anticipation of the worst, and even family-owned businesses took precautionary measures to protect themselves.
In one video, she showed the floodwaters creeping up around the lodge, and while the windows seemed to withstand the rain and wind, the looming storm was still intensely visible. “It’s starting to get a bit flooded,” she noted in her video. “The windows seem really robust as it is really chucking it down.” The mother described her visit as the first time she had ever experienced such a hurricane during her multiple trips to Florida. She added that the area was “super accommodating,” with the only signs of the hurricane being rain and a bit of wind at first.
The mum also filmed wind gusts battering trees outside her hotel balcony. In the update, she noted that the worst was expected to hit overnight, warning her followers of the approaching winds and stormy conditions. “Tomorrow is Thursday, and apparently it’s to be horrible weather all through the day. The hurricane is due to hit us at around 2am in the morning and Friday it should be back to normal,” she said.
Hurricane Milton made landfall near Siesta Key around 8:30 pm local time, with maximum sustained winds of 120mph. The storm weakened slightly within an hour, but it continued to wreak havoc, with the US National Hurricane Centre reporting winds of 110mph at 9:00 pm. The storm’s impact has led to a high-level flood warning affecting more than two million people, while power outages have plunged millions into darkness.
In the wake of Milton’s destruction, airports such as Orlando International, Melbourne Orlando International, and Tampa International were forced to suspend operations, with major UK airlines like Virgin Atlantic, British Airways, and Tui cancelling flights to Florida. The storm is expected to continue to affect Florida until Friday, when normal conditions are predicted to return.
