Stay Safe, Gulf Coast

Gabe Kenley

Florida has been hit by back-to-back hurricanes over the past two months, Hurricane Helene and now Hurricane Milton. Helene’s destruction is still being dealt with, requiring $286 million in federal aid, according to FEMA.gov. Hurricane Milton threatens to be the second largest recorded hurricane on this side of the globe. Disney World Orlando, the largest theme park on Earth, remains open until the last possible minute.
“Unfortunately for me, I happen to be in Disney World Orlando at the time of writing this article. Booking a vacation one year in advance doesn’t exactly come with an accurate weather prediction.”
At the moment, thousands of guests are going to be trapped in the park’s resorts, evacuation traffic makes escape as of Wednesday morning entirely unrealistic.
To the knowledge of the parkgoers, Disney has yet to attempt an evacuation notice. Upon being asked, Disney employees at the park seem confident in their infrastructure, echoing statements that Disney World is the safest place on earth. Hurricane Milton is going to put that to the test as it is about to hit just south of Orlando, meaning the park will be within the zone of greatest strength.
Hotels across northern Florida have been booked out to evacuees preparing for Hurricane Milton.
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor had this to say: “I can say without any dramatization whatsoever: If you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you’re going to die,” When asked what she would say to those who have ridden out storms in the area in the past, she emphasized that “there’s never been one like this before,” and said that Milton is shaping up to be “literally catastrophic” with predicted storm surges that are not survivable.
“I plan to update the readers with a personal account of events from a first person perspective in next week’s edition. I am currently staying in one of the resorts on Disney Property, our plans are to leave early and visit one more park while the Magic Kingdom’s gates remain open. Orlando isn’t directly in the storm’s path, but it surely won’t be a delicate breeze come Wednesday evening.” – Gabe Kenley
We at the Gazette hope for the safety of the residents of Florida.