Irish tourists moved to central Florida ahead of Hurricane Milton

Vivienne Clarke

Irish travel company American Holidays has been rearranging travel plans for 70 Irish people who are in Florida at present to take them out of the path of Hurricane Milton.

Bladhana Richardson told RTÉ radio’s Today with Claire Byrne show that they had moved the 70 people from the coastal area to central Florida and they were in constant contact.

“The majority of them are based in Orlando at the moment. Anyone who has been on the coast, we have moved into central Florida. So away from the known affected areas and it is mainly couples at the moment. We do have some families, but as it’s outside of school holidays, thankfully there's less families traveling at the moment.”

“We're in constant contact with them. We have been moving their bookings if we need to move them. We've been giving them updates and asking them to do practical things like keep their phones charged and follow the guidance of the hotels where they'll be staying. All of those hotels and parks are fully equipped to deal with known hurricanes, so follow local advice.”

The theme parks in Orlando are scheduled to close today at 2pm and will remain closed tomorrow, she said. “We are keeping people updated on forums like Facebook and social media on some of the experiences they might have booked.”

People who were scheduled to travel to the Tampa area in the next 24 hours have been contacted, and their travel is being rearranged, she said.

“We understand that the airports continue to be closed or flights are being cancelled or rearranged. We are constantly in contact with them. Anyone who has a booking with another tour operator or travel agent, we would strongly advise them to contact them so they can also help their travel be re managed. And I'm sure that those tour operators and travel agents are doing that currently.”