Florida’s gulf coast is bracing for another powerful hurricane, and major airports aren't taking any chances.
Hurricane Milton has been upgraded to a Category 5 storm on 07OCT and is spinning east toward the Tampa Bay area. Tampa airport officials say TPA will be closed starting O8OCT at 9 a.m. local time and won't re-open until it's safe to do so.
MCO said on Twitter/X that the airport "will cease commercial operations on Wednesday morning, in advance of Hurricane Milton."
No time for the closure was immediately available.
"This move was made in coordination with our partners," MCO officials said. "We will resume commercial operations as soon as it is safe."
Sarasota airport said SRQ will close 08OCT at 4 p.m. local time.
The storm was upgraded to Category 5 early in the afternoon of O7OCT after increasing in strength at "a mind-boggling rate," said CNN. A hurricane warning was issued for parts of Mexico’s Yucatan state, and much of Florida’s west coast was under hurricane and storm surge watches. Experts say surging water could go as high as 12 feet in Tampa, which was hit by Hurricane Helene just over a week ago.
FLORIDA
CNN said the hurricane is on track to come ashore anywhere from Cedar Key in the north to Naples at the south – including possibly in the Tampa or Ft. Myers areas.
St. Pete-Clearwater Airport’s website states that all flights in and out of PIE are cancelled for 09OCT and 10OCT.
RSW’s website said the airport was open on 07OCT but that customers should check with their airlines.
“We do not know yet what impacts weather will have on flights later this week,” airport officials said.
TPA said it’s monitoring the storm and will post any alerts on social media and on their website.
TPA was closed for more than a day due to Hurricane Helene, forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights. Other airports in Florida and Georgia also saw major cancellations and flight delays.
MEXICO
The Yucatan peninsula of Mexico was expecting strong winds and heavy rain on 07OCT and 08OCT as Milton passes nearby.
AIRLINES
Air Canada has posted travel advisories for CUN, MIA, TPA, FLL, RSW and MCO for O7OCT and 08OCT. The CUN advisory is for two days, but the Florida airport advisories are in place for 09OCT and 10OCT.
“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,” the airline states.
WestJet has advisories for MCO, RSW and FLL for 09OCT and also has special rebooking rules in place.
CRUISE
Cruise lines also are scrambling to make changes to avoid the storm.
Royal Caribbean has changed the itineraries for four ships so far to avoid Hurricane Milton. Harmony of the Seas, which will leave Galveston, Texas on Sunday, will skip a visit to Roatan, Honduras and visit Costa Maya, Mexico on Wednesday.
In addition, Harmony will enjoy a Sea Day on Day 3, and depart Cozumel, Mexico, at 5:00 PM on Day 5, Cruise Hive reports.
Symphony of the Seas is departing from Cape Liberty in Bayonne, New Jersey on Sunday and will now skip a scheduled visit to Port Canaveral, Florida and replace it with a sea day.
Symphony has also decided to skip visits to Nassau, Bahamas and Perfect Day at CocoCay and head to Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic and Royal Caribbean's private destination of Labadee.
Wonder of the Seas will skip a visit to Roatan, Honduras and Costa Maya, Mexico. Instead, Wonder will visit Cozumel on Day 6 and Falmouth, Jamaica, Cruise Hive states.
Utopia of the Seas will swap the days the ship will visit Nassau, Bahamas and Perfect Day at CocoCay. They will visit CocoCay on Tuesday and then wait to visit Nassau until Thursday, according to the Royal Caribbean Blog.
Grandeur of the Seas was originally scheduled to offer a 5-night Western Caribbean cruise to Cozumel and Costa Maya, Mexico. Instead, she will sail to The Bahamas and visit Nassau on Day 4.
"We’re terribly sorry for the last-minute change caused by the weather – your safety is our top priority,” Royal Caribbean officials said in a statement. “Please know, being onboard is one of the safest places because our ship can quickly move out of the way of any inclement weather.”
Carnival said nine ships in the region are being "closely watched for potential adjustments,” Cruise Industry News reports.
“Our Fleet Operations Center in Miami is actively monitoring Hurricane Milton, which has developed in the Gulf of Mexico,” the company said.
Margaritaville at Sea announced its Islander Cruise, which was scheduled to leave Tampa on 08OCT, will instead leave on 07OCT.
