Florida's major airports shut down, impacting routes from Long Island, as Hurricane Milton lands in Florida

As Hurricane Milton charges into Florida, several of the state's major airports are closed, impacting air travel to and from Long Island.

Meanwhile, Florida residents in the path of the storm have been told to shelter in place. The weakened but still powerful Category Three storm with 120 mph winds landed Wednesday evening onto the state's west coast. 

Orlando, Orlando Sanford, Sarasota, St. Pete-Clearwater, Southwest Florida and Tampa airports were all shut Wednesday. Palm Beach International Airport suspended flight operations as of 9 p.m. Wednesday, the airport said through social media channels.

Airlines, not the town, determine each flight's status, said Angie Carpenter, the supervisor of Islip Town, which operates the airport. 

"They're ultimately the arbiter of whether a flight goes up or not," she said.

Six inbound flights from Florida were cancelled Wednesday, “but some flights were still coming in.”
Carpenter suggested checking with the carrier first, and said there could be more cancellations Thursday or beyond.

Florida airports top FlightAware's charts for the number of canceled departures and arrivals, with 425 canceled inbound flights, or 95%, and 400 inbound flights, or 88%.

The storm also prompted closures of theme parks and attractions across central Florida, including Disney World.

The hurricane landed on the west coast of the state and was forecast to cross the state from there and head out to the Atlantic Ocean. The Tampa Bay area, inhabited by millions, is facing wide-scale destruction overnight despite avoiding direct impacts from other hurricanes for over a century.

At approximately 3 p.m. Wednesday, the Florida Division of Emergency Management informed residents that there is "an increased threat of tornadoes" in central and southern parts of Florida as Milton approaches.

"Shelter in place NOW!," the agency posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. "Move to an interior room away from all windows & continue to monitor weather alerts."

The Fort Myers Police Department said residents should have been sheltered in place as of 2 p.m., and the City of Cope Coral, located between Tampa and Miami urged residents to shelter in place from around 1 p.m. Wednesday afternoon until "all weather impacts have passed."

Hillsborough County announced through Facebook that "with the onset of winds arriving in Hillsborough County, it is no longer safe for the County's transportation partners to transport residents to shelters."

With Nicholas Grasso

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.