Orlando International Airport posted an update on its social media accounts Thursday afternoon, and many were hoping the update would allow them to begin making plans for flights into and out of the Orlando area in the coming days. Instead, the “update” left prospective passengers with more questions.
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On Thursday morning, as Floridians were just beginning to take in all that had transpired in the previous hours, Orlando International Airport posted an update, stating that every road leading to MCO was flooded, and commercial operations were canceled for the day. But there was no definite message about when the airport would reopen–only that the hope was for a Friday reopening, pending a “damage assessment.”
On Thursday afternoon, the airport shared a short update, simply stating that “due to the extent (sp) of the storm, no timeframe has been selected for when MCO will return to normal operations. All commercial flight operations remain (sp) ceased.” The update was posted after 3:00 p.m. Thursday afternoon.
Orlando International Airport (MCO) has released a new update: “Due to the extend of the storm, no timeframe has been selected for when MCO will return to normal operations.”
All commercial flight operations remained ceased.
— Ashley Carter (@AshleyLCarter1) September 29, 2022
A patron asked when the airport will reopen in response to MCO’s tweet from Thursday morning, and was told that “a damage assessment of our airport and facilities will be taking place today. Whenever a decision is made in regards to the resuming of operations at our airport, projected for tomorrow – no set time as of yet, we’ll make sure to post about it.”
As stated, a damage assessment of our airport and facilities will be taking place today. Whenever a decision is made in regards to the resuming of operations at our airport, projected for tomorrow – no set time as of yet, we'll make sure to post about it.
— Orlando International Airport (@MCO) September 29, 2022
The Walt Disney World Resort made an announcement on Thursday afternoon, stating that the resort has plans for a “phased approach” to reopening on Friday. At the time of the announcement, however, specific operating hours for the parks had not yet been determined, but Disney said those hours would be posted later in the day on Thursday.
Much of Central Florida will spend the next hours and days coming out from under the water, thanks to “catastrophic flooding” in the area and across the state. Hurricane Ian made landfall on Wednesday afternoon as a Category 4 storm with near-Category 5 storm wind speeds. At the time of this post, no loss of life has been reported, but the situation continues to evolve as rescue efforts have begun, and residents, business owners, and others are surveying the damage caused by what authorities are calling one of the strongest hurricanes ever to make landfall in the Sunshine State.