Hurricane Milton nears Florida as people rush to evacuate, companies halt operations
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Hurricane Milton, which quickly strengthened to a Category 5 storm, is forecast to be among the most destructive to hit the Gulf Coast of Florida. More than 1M people have been ordered to evacuate, while companies across sectors are pausing operations.
The storm is projected to make landfall in the densely populated Tampa Bay area Wednesday night, and will likely weaken to a Category 3 hurricane by then.
Around 2.8% of U.S. GDP is in the direct path of Milton, Ryan Sweet, chief economist at Oxford Economics, wrote on Tuesday. According to AccuWeather, economic losses from the storm could exceed $200B.
Air travel
Orlando International and Tampa International airports have suspended operations. As many as 212 flights within, into, or out of the U.S. were delayed and 1,708 were canceled at the time of writing, according to FlightAware.
Delta Air Lines (DAL), American Airlines (AAL), Southwest (LUV) and United (UAL) issued waivers for customers who booked flights into or out of Florida airports that ceased operations.
Many airlines also added flights to help people evacuating from Florida, but there have been allegations of price gouging. Airlines insist they’ve capped fares.
Energy sector
Kinder Morgan (KMI) shut its Tampa Bay refined products terminals and Central Florida Pipeline system. Milton’s impact on offshore oil and gas production has been minimal so far, according to S&P Global.
Several Tampa fuel terminals have shut off supply, and several gas stations have run out of fuel as people evacuate in droves.
Theme parks, retail
Disney (DIS) announced theme park closures in Florida starting Wednesday. Goldman Sachs expects Disney’s parks division earnings this quarter to take a $150M-$200M hit from the closures.
Universal Orlando Resort and SeaWorld Orlando will also be closed on Wednesday. Cruise operators Royal Caribbean (RCL) and Carnival (CCL) have adjusted certain schedules.
Target (TGT) and Kohl’s (KSS) temporarily closed stores in the storm’s path.