British family on dream holiday to Florida to celebrate youngest daughter beating leukaemia reveal Hurricane Milton hotel lockdown hell
A British family who have travelled to Florida for a dream holiday to celebrate their youngest child beating cancer have been forced to lockdown in a hotel as Hurricane Milton crashes through the US state.
A British family who have travelled to Florida for a dream holiday to celebrate their youngest child beating cancer have been forced to lockdown in a hotel as Hurricane Milton crashes through the US state.
The Ball family, from Billericay, Essex, had arrived at Disney World Orlando on Saturday for what was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime to mark their daughter overcoming leukaemia.
But the holiday has been thrown into chaos by Hurricane Milton, which has forced millions to flee Florida as 120mph winds rip through the state.
Thousands of British families have had flights to Florida cancelled, with those already there having to bunker down.
Instead of exploring Disney World with their children, the Balls were forced to evacuate their hotel before being urgently relocated to secure Disney accommodation the next day.
Jonathan Ball is in Florida with his family to celebrate his youngest daughter (pictured together) beating leukaemia
The Ball family were evacuated and moved to another hotel in anticipation of Hurricane Milton hitting
I think anyone that can leave Orlando is trying to get out of the eye of the storm, Jonathan Ball told BBC News.
Mr Ball, his wife and their three children have been advised to stay in the new hotel until at least Thursday afternoon.
Although Orlando is not at the centre of the devastating hurricanes path, those in the region have been warned about flash floods and strong winds.
Mr Ball told how the family had seen water supplies stripped in shops, while there were also petrol shortages as people tried to flee the region.
We were in a taxi and one of the drivers said You know its bad if Disney closes - and Disney is closing, Mr Ball added.
Weve had lots of messages, mostly saying how gutted they are for us. Everyones worried but they know were in a safe place now.
Milton has struck just two weeks after another major hurricane, Helene, devastated Florida and other southeastern states - killing at least 235 people, with emergency crews still working to provide relief.
British woman Jennie Flin told the BBC that Hurricane Milton is the second storm she has been caught up in during her honeymoon in Florida.
Chris, 32, and Leah Kennedy, 27, had saved up for the perfect honeymoon, in an extravagant adventure far from their Bedfordshire home. Pictured: Chris, Leah and Leas sisters and cousin - Evie 9, Lexy, 13 and Bella, 16
Julie Wood, 62, fled from Tampa to Miami Beach last week with her husband and another couple as the weather reports started rolling in
Disney World has been forced to close as Hurricane Milton wreaks havoc across the state
Debris is strewn on a street following the collapse of a crane, during heavy rainfall and strong winds caused by Hurricane Milton, in St. Petersburg, Florida
The roof of Tropicana Field, the home of the Tampa Bay Rays, was ripped off by Hurricane Milton
A crane crashes into a building as Hurrican Milton rips through Florida
This video showed a crane collapsing onto the building as 120mph winds rip through Florida
We were evacuated out of Clearwater during Hurricane Helene and now were experiencing our second hurricane on our honeymoon, she said.
Elsewhere, Chris, 32, and Leah Kennedy, 27, had saved up for the perfect honeymoon, in an extravagant adventure far from their Bedfordshire home.
Leah - who had come to Florida when she was only a toddler with her family - had always dreamed of coming back, and had just reunited with her parents, cousin and two younger sisters, aged nine, 13 and 16, before the storm approached.
But now all seven of them are bunkered down in a single room on the eighth room of a hotel at Orlandos Universal park as they wait for the hurricane to arrive.
Leah told MailOnline: Were stuck inside the hotel room at the moment, everythings been closed down.
Were trying to stop them look out the window, which is a very hard task at the moment, when youre hearing everything. Weve played a lot of UNO and a lot of heads up games just to try and keep everyone occupied.
The children are coping well - obviously its giving a bit of PTSD from Covid, all trapped in the same room all together, but theyre doing very well bearing in mind everything thats happening.
Obviously, its not a nice start to the holiday when you want to be going around seeing Minnie and Mickey, but theyre doing very well.
A vehicle is stranded on a water-flooded street after Hurricane Milton made landfall in Brandon, Florida on October 9, 2024. Milton made landfall in Florida October 9, 2024
Surge waters flood the street after Hurricane Milton made landfall in the Sarasota area on October 09, 2024
Water-flooded streets are seen after Hurricane Milton made landfall in Fort Myers, Florida
A power transformer explodes, creating a light in the background, as Hurricane Milton makes landfall in Fort Myers, Florida on October 9, 2024
Like many others, their hotel is now being used as a hub for locals to find safety during the storm.
She continued: Were seeing families and young babies and pets all come here as well. Theyve got sandbags everywhere, and its just obviously a bit frightening because its the winds definitely picking up and its getting a lot stronger.
Theres still staff on duty that have been very helpful. Theyve just obviously told us to just stay in our room just to see the storm out and stay away from the windows.
Other British nationals in Florida expressed their anxiety ahead of Milton making landfall.
Kate Collins, 52, told the PA news agency she is not living in a mandatory evacuation zone but has gathered supplies for the hurricane.
Ms Collins, who was raised in Plymouth and moved to Florida 30 years ago, said she is sheltering with five people and five dogs in her home in Volusia County, which is under mandatory curfew from 8pm local time on Wednesday.
The mood in the house is definite anxiety. Preparing for the worst and hoping for the best, Ms Collins said.
Milton made landfall near Siesta Key, Florida at about 8.30pm local time yesterday. The US National Hurricane Centre reports the hurricane had maximum sustained winds of 120mph.
About 90 minutes after making landfall, Milton was centred about 20 miles (30 kilometres) northeast of Sarasota and had weakened slightly with maximum sustained winds of 110mph (175ph), becoming a Category 2 storm, the hurricane centre reported.
The US National Weather Service has issued the highest level of flood warning to more than two million residents within Miltons path.
Blackouts from the damaging storm have plunged more than 2 million people into darkness so far, as per the electrical fault website poweroutage.us.
Virgin Atlantic, British Airways and Tui are among the airlines to have cancelled flights between the UK and Florida.
Hurricane Milton approaches as a Category 3 storm in Sarasota, Florida, October 9
The latest update from the National Hurricane Centre warned the deadly storms catastrophic march over Florida s west coast has started. Pictured is Sarasota, Florida, being battered
A number of airports in Florida have closed to commercial operations, including Orlando International, Melbourne Orlando International and Tampa International.
The Met Office said the hurricane could bring uncertainty to UK weather next week if its remnants end up in the Atlantic, but added Milton was highly unlikely to reach the UK.
The weather service said Milton was expected to be a dangerous and destructive hurricane as it makes landfall, with the risk of a substantial storm surge.
Met Office tropical prediction scientist Julian Hemming said Miltons extremely strong winds could cause severe structural damage.
He added: But also the thing were really concerned about is the storm surge.
And around the hurricane, and particularly to the south of the eye of the hurricane, we could get a storm surge of up to 15ft, which would cause extreme flooding along the coastal strip.
Mr Hemming said there could potentially be 300 to 400 millimetres of rain over the next two days over central parts of Florida.
Milton is expected to weaken to a tropical storm once over the open waters of the Atlantic and transition into an extratropical storm after it passes to the south of Bermuda.
Beyond this, Miltons remnant is likely to either be absorbed into a frontal zone or dissipate in situ in the subtropical Atlantic, the Met Office said.
Tour operator Virgin Atlantic Holidays has cancelled holidays booked to the Gulf Coast areas of Tampa, Clearwater and St. Petersburg for departures up until and including October 18, and for Orlando departures up until and including October 10.
On Wednesday, British Airways cancelled six flights connecting Gatwick with Orlando and Tampa.
Tui has also said its flying programme will be extremely disrupted due to the hurricane.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said travellers should monitor approaching storms on the US National Hurricane Centre website and follow instructions from local authorities, including evacuation orders.
A UK Government spokesperson said: We are closely monitoring the development of Hurricane Milton towards the United States.
We urge all British nationals in Florida, or travelling to the region, to follow the FCDO travel advice, as well as guidance from local authorities.
