A British woman among thousands of tourists caught up in Florida’s Hurricane Milton emergency shared her experience of desperately trying to stock up on essentials ahead of the expected landfall tomorrow.
TikTok user scouseblu told her 94,000 followers she and her partner stocked up on water at Target as residents are urged to find shelter or evacuate.
‘The shelves were a little bit empty… a lot of people are stocking up on water,’ she found.
She said it was ‘absolutely manic’ in Home Depot as they tried to find other essentials, adding that ended up leaving with the store set to close early. Torches were already in short supply when they went.
Fellow travelers 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’.
scouseblu told followers that shelves have been stripped bare ahead of Milton’s arrival
Shelves in Target were completely empty by the time they arrived
She said some hotels were handing out supplies but others had left guests ‘on their own’
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Huge lines of traffic form as people desperately try to evacuate their homes in Florida
Hurricane Milton, currently a catastrophic Category 4 hurricane, heading for Florida at dawn
A passenger sleeps at the Tampa International Airport Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in Tampa, Fla., after most flights were canceled due to the possible arrival of Hurricane Milton
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Another video shared yesterday showed shelves completely empty as she headed to stores to gather supplies.
‘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 now battling Hurricane Milton chaos as the catastrophic storm threatens to devastate much of Florida‘s gulf coast.
Britain’s Foreign Office has warned citizens to follow evacuation orders and instruction 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.
As many as 3,100 Brits visited Florida each day last year, on average, making it a more popular holiday spot than any other nation.
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 155mph winds creep toward the state.
Tampa International Airport stopped flights at 9am today and posted on X that it is not a shelter for people or their cars.
St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport said it is in a mandatory evacuation zone and will close after the last flight leaves today.
Delta Air Lines ran out of flights from Tampa to Atlanta at 10.30am Monday, with customers having to pay more than $800 for a roundabout flight to Washington DC instead.
Meanwhile, American Airlines was selling flights from Tampa to Atlanta yesterday for between $641 and $2,400, with only a couple of seats remaining on each plane.
‘This is the real deal here with Milton,’ Tampa Mayor Jane Castor told a Monday news conference. ‘If you want to take on Mother Nature, she wins 100 per cent of the time.’
Tampa could be one of the worst affected regions when the Category 4 hurricane – expected to be upgraded back to Category 5 today – lands.
Dr Steven Godby, an expert in natural hazards in Nottingham Trent University’s School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences, said: ‘Tampa has long been regarded as the most vulnerable metropolitan area in the United States to storm surge flooding.
‘Direct hurricane strikes on the west coast of Florida are rare, but much of it is low-lying and the relatively shallow water offshore makes it vulnerable to large storm surges.
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(File). Orlando International airport is preparing to stop commercial operations tomorrow
Locals are met with long lines at the Costco check out in Orlando as they prepare for Hurricane Milton’s arrival
Salvage works remove debris from Hurricane Helene flooding on Monday, ahead of Hurricane Milton’s expected arrival on Wednesday
Shelves at a grocery store are empty of bottled water as Hurricane Milton churns in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday
People queue to buy groceries at a store ahead of Hurricane Milton’s arrival in Cancun
‘With Hurricane Milton bearing down on Tampa it is worth noting that the population at that time was around 160,000 and has now swelled to over 3 million, many living on ground less than three metres above sea level.
‘Large numbers of homes, schools, government buildings and critical infrastructure are at risk of flooding and wind damage.
‘Any debris left uncleared from Hurricane Helene two weeks ago may add to the risk by becoming projectiles in the severe winds forecast.’
The National Weather Service in Tampa Bay has said that ‘if the storm stays on the current track, it will be the worst storm to impact the Tampa area in over 100 years.’
Mayor Jane Castor has warned the city’s nearly 400,000 residents that if they don’t evacuate, ‘you are going to die.’
MailOnline contacted the FCDO for comment.