Tampa International Airport and Major Theme Parks Reopen After Hurricane Milton

Tampa International Airport announced it will reopen at 8 a.m. on Friday following the passage of Hurricane Milton. The airport suffered damage to a power generator and boarding bridges due to the extreme wind gusts and heavy rainfall brought by the Category 3 storm. “The extreme wind gusts and heavy rainfall from the Category 3 storm impacted several areas of the airport campus that will need repairs,” stated airport officials in a press release.

As Tampa begins its recovery, major attractions in Florida are also preparing to welcome visitors back. Walt Disney World in Orlando announced that its four theme parks and the Disney Springs shopping center will reopen on Friday, having been spared the worst of the storm’s impact. Universal Orlando‘s theme parks and attractions at CityWalk will also resume normal operations.

Hurricane Milton, which has since been downgraded to a “hurricane-force extratropical low” as it moved into the Atlantic, left extensive damage across Florida. In Palmetto, a city with a population of 13,000 located between Tampa and Sarasota, many homes were stripped of their roofs, and some residents face weeks of delay before returning home due to the widespread destruction.

In the Tampa Bay area, residents of Pinellas County, including Clearwater and St. Petersburg, experienced flooding so severe that rescue operations were conducted using boats. County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri reported that approximately 430 individuals were rescued from a submerged apartment building where “some of the water was as high as the second-floor balcony.”

Widespread power outages were reported, with restoration efforts expected to take weeks or even months in severely affected areas. Satellite images showed the extent of the storm’s impact, with Florida’s towns and cities emerging from beneath the storm clouds, marked by dislodged roofs, shattered windows, and storm surge debris.

President Joe Biden addressed the situation, urging residents to “stay inside and off the roads,” citing dangerous conditions from downed power lines and debris. Biden responded to claims by former President Donald Trump about federal funds diversion, calling such statements “reckless” and “un-American,” and emphasizing that federal assistance is being provided to those affected by the disaster.

Meanwhile, sinkholes have appeared in various locations due to the hurricane’s effects, leading to impassable roads in places like Orange County and Volusia County. Rescue workers continue their efforts in clearing the rubble while dealing with a rising death toll which stands at ten, concentrated mostly on Florida’s east coast where evacuation orders were not issued.