Hurricane Milton affecting some flights at Toronto Pearson airport

Hurricane Milton is already causing flight disruptions at Pearson International Airport in Toronto as it barrels towards Florida’s Gulf Coast.

The Category 5 storm is expected to make landfall in Tampa Bay sometime on Wednesday, less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc on the state and beyond.

Tampa International Airport announced it was suspending operations on Tuesday as the storm moves closer, with plans to reopen when it is “safe to do so.” Orlando International Airport, which is also in the hurricane’s path, made a similar announcement and will close Wednesday.

As a result, Pearson Airport said in a post to social media that flights to and from those locations will be affected.

“We're closely monitoring Hurricane Milton as it moves through the Yucatan Peninsula and heads toward Florida,” the airport said in a tweet.

In an update, Pearson's duty manager John Ventresca said flights to and from Cancun are also impacted. Ventresca encouraged passengers to check out the Toronto airport's website to keep up to date on their flight status. 

It’s unclear how long the closures at Tampa and Orlando airport will be in effect. Miami International Airport and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport -- neither of which are currently in the storm path -- remain open.

Porter Airlines announced that all of its flights to Florida have been cancelled for Wednesday. Additionally, all of its flights to Orlando on Thursday have been cancelled, but the airline says impacted travellers will be automatically rebooked on flights sometime later this week.

"There may be further cancellations throughout the week as the storm system makes landfall," the Toronto-based airline said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

The weather system could bring with it eight to 12 foot-storm surges and evacuation orders have been issued for communities along the coast.

A major hurricane has not made a direct hit on Tampa Bay since 1921 and U.S. President Joe Biden has approved an emergency declaration for the state.

In a Monday news conference, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor called Milton “the real deal.”

"If you want to take on Mother Nature, she wins 100 per cent of the time," she said. The region is still reeling from Helene, which produced a wall of water up to 8 feet and left 12 people dead.

'Devastatingly powerful'

Milton was downgraded to a Category 4 hurricane, but it has since been upgraded back to a Category 5 after reaching peak intensity with wind speeds of 285 km/h on Monday night. The hurricane became the strongest storm for 2024.

“Storms of this magnitude often go through what’s called eyewall replacement… it wobbles, the winds tend to back off a little bit, and then it gets a redefined eye,” CP24 meteorologist Bill Coulter said.

The storm is expected to dump as much as 450 millimetres of rain in some areas of Florida, Coulter said, noting that Toronto saw less than a quarter of that amount when the Don Valley Parkway flooded in in July. Wind gusts could also reach speeds of over 200 km/h.

“So with the rain, with a storm surge, with the winds, this is going to be devastating all up and down,” he said.

With files from The Associated Press