Florida residents flee state, brace for impact of Hurricane Milton

By Wednesday morning, Milton was located 400 kilometres southwest of Tampa, generating maximum sustained winds 250 kph, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
“Winds will begin to increase along the west coast of Florida by this afternoon,” the NHC said. “Preparations, including evacuation if told to do so, should be rushed.”
“I am nervous. This is something we just went through with the other storm – ground saturated, still recovering from that,” Sarasota resident Randy Prior, who owns a pool business, told AFP.
Prior, 36, says he plans to ride out the storm at home, after recently toughing out Hurricane Helene, which flooded the same western parts of Florida before wreaking havoc across remote areas of North Carolina and further inland.
At Walt Disney World in Orlando, which was expected to receive a big hit once Milton crosses the peninsula, visitors were getting a few rides in before the theme parks closed shortly after midday.
“It’s safe and we’re here, so might as well,” said Lindsay Moore, 42, who flew in from Hawaii over the weekend.
“We thought about cancelling but airlines wouldn’t let us.”