British tourist describes 'manic' shop scenes as Florida braces for Hurricane Milton
8 October 2024, 18:05 | Updated: 8 October 2024, 18:11
A British woman caught up in Florida's Hurricane Milton emergency shared her experience of desperately trying to stock up on essentials ahead of the expected landfall on Wednesday.
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Residents have been in a desperate race to leave the sunshine state since evacuation warnings were issued on Monday, with highways in gridlock and fuel supplies threatening to run low.
The storm's winds reached 180mph on Monday night, as it became a Category 5 hurricane - the highest level.
It later weakened to Category 4 with winds of around 155 mph as of Tuesday morning. It is expected to reach the US coast overnight on Wednesday into Thursday.
British TikTok user scouseblu told her 94,000 followers how when she and her partner went to Target for supplies: “The shelves were a little bit empty. A lot of people are stocking up on water.”
She said it was “absolutely manic” in Home Depot as they tried to find other essentials, with the store set to close early and torches already in short supply when they went.
Fellow travellers told her their hotels have been handing out toilet paper and bottles of water in preparation for the hurricane's arrival, but some have left guests like scouseblu “on their own”.
Another video she posted yesterday showed shelves completely empty as she headed to stores to gather supplies.
She said: “They opened at 7[am]. We got there at 6.50. So it clearly opened a little bit earlier and all the water... was gone.
“All the bananas were completely gone... and it was the same in Walmart as well last night. There was just no water at all and people were queuing to get their big bottles filled.”
With cars forming lines outside, she said it felt “like Coronavirus times”.
Thousands of British tourists are caught in the Hurricane Milton chaos as the storm threatens to devastate much of Florida's gulf coast.
Britain's Foreign Office has warned citizens to follow evacuation orders and instructions from local authorities as Milton is expected to bring high winds, heavy rainfall and a “life-threatening storm surge” to most of Florida late tomorrow.
It encouraged stranded holidaymakers to monitor the approaching storms and contact their airlines or travel agents for information about potential disruptions.
Airports in holiday hotspots of Tampa and Orlando will now temporarily cease operations to and from the UK ahead of Milton's expected landfall.
British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have already grounded today and tomorrow's flights from London to Tampa, as well as the corresponding return routes.
The Orlando International airport will cease commercial operations tomorrow morning at 8am local time [1pm BST], The Independent reported today.
All seven flights from the UK departing Tuesday are still shown to be operating as normal.Overnight returns, leaving tonight, are also expected to leave as scheduled.
But anything leaving Britain or landing in Britain from Florida from tomorrow will be cancelled, except Virgin's flight from Edinburgh to Orlando, which will be delayed to October 10.
Almost the entirety of Florida's west coast remains under a hurricane warning as Milton and its 155 mph winds creep toward the state.
