Hurricane at WDW?

[RoninHood]

What if a class 5 hurricane hit Disney World and Orlando,would they be able to sustain the force and magnitude of a storm this powerfull,and the after math ,would we see what we saw this past week in New Orleans,or would we see a different kind of relief effert???

"American Woman,stay away from me,American Woman,I don't need your war machine,I don't need your ghetto scenes,sparkle someone else is eyes."

 

[Tom]

What if a class 5 hurricane hit Disney World and Orlando,would they be able to sustain the force and magnitude of a storm this powerfull,and the after math ,would we see what we saw this past week in New Orleans,or would we see a different kind of relief effert???

"American Woman,stay away from me,American Woman,I don't need your war machine,I don't need your ghetto scenes,sparkle someone else is eyes."

From all I've read on WDI design, most of their principle structures can withstand hurricane force winds....but I don't know to what "force" they meant. And I'm no meteorologist, but I don't think a Cat 5 hurricane would maintain the same strength that far inland - so the winds would reduce, like Katrina's did. But again, I could be soooo wrong it's not even funny! HA!

 

[elpirataman]

What if a class 5 hurricane hit Disney World and Orlando,would they be able to sustain the force and magnitude of a storm this powerfull,and the after math ,would we see what we saw this past week in New Orleans,or would we see a different kind of relief effert???

"American Woman,stay away from me,American Woman,I don't need your war machine,I don't need your ghetto scenes,sparkle someone else is eyes."

Considering New Orleans had levies(sp) and they were bellow sea level, It's unlikley that the aftermath would be as bad, and Katrina was moving very very slowly, so not as much destruction I believe, but you never know

 

[peter11435]

Considering New Orleans had levies(sp) and they were bellow sea level, It's unlikley that the aftermath would be as bad, and Katrina was moving very very slowly, so not as much destruction I believe, but you never know

A Cat 5 hurricane will never hit Disney. By the time it reaches that far inland it will be a 3 at best. Disney will also never have the flooding seen in NO. That said all Disney buildings and infrasturcture are built to the best of their ability. Last year Disney was hit by three hurricanes and their was no structural damage, and they never lost power. The parks in all three cases were able to reopen quickly.

 

[Huge Dreamer]

There would be wind damage for sure but the aftermath would not be anything like New Orleans. New Orleans aftermath was caused by flooding not because of to much rain but the the levies failing at a couple of spots. Any flooding at Disney World would only be for a couple days at the most if any and wouldn't require rebuild everything.

 

[Mystic]

My mom knows someone who was at WDW during the last major hurricane to hit that area last September. They were told that all the hotels and buildings there were designed to withstand a category 5 hurricane. The only building to sustain any kind of damage was one that was behind the scenes. I learned this from one of the CMs doing the Dolphins in Depth.

 

[Michael72688]

I really have a hard time that all the buildings there were built to withstand 155+ mph. Thats not easy to do. I think if one came straight in from say, Cocoa, Disney, as well as all the other parks around here would be in serious trouble. Believe me those three storms we went through last year were nothing, the highest in Orlando was a cat. 1 with winds around 90. Now 5 would never hit Orlando, but a 4 could, I just hope it never does.

 

[LaserCool]

Having lived through a Category 5 (Andrew), I can tell you it's no joke. The main concerns as far as damage are concerned is wind damage and storm surge.

Storm surge is excessively high tides caused by the wind and low pressure of the storm. These can 15-25 ft above mean high tide. Since orlando is some 50 miles or more from the coast, it's not really an issue. Minor amounts of flooding are possible from heavy rain, especially if the area has gotten a lot of rain beforehand, as Katrina, while still a category 1, did passing through Miami before reaching New Orleans.

High winds really are an issue of structural integrity. Many buildings that had thier windows covered by shutters survived the wind of Andrew (~150 mph), but many did not. Usually these were buildings that did not have proper hurricane straps in thier roof structures, or only had plywood roofs, not toungue and groove as my home did.

With the kind of investment Disney has in the physical struvture of the parks, I can only imagine that they are rated to 200 mph+, but this is only speculatiuon on my part.

 

[DragonJay]

The materials and specifications for facilities to resist something as powerful as 200+ mph winds would be very cost-prohibitive. Not to say that it isn't possible, but unlikely. In addition, the natural scenery or "street furniture" simply wouldn't last, and would, in fact, become projectiles that would cause the most severe damage. Imagine a metal lamp-post being hurled at even half that speed...

Fortunately, the chances of a Cat 5 hitting central Florida is pretty slim.

 

[CoasterJunkie]

I worked in the Magic Kingdom (Fantasyland Merchandise) during two of the three hurricanes last year while on my College Program. As part of the College Program, I took part in the new Egineering Professional Development Study. It was a class that looked at all the engineering aspects of the resort. As part of that class we got to meet a lot of people who are in the know about all things engineering-related at Disney.

In one of the classes we had a presentation that dealt with building codes for the Walkt Disney World Resort, as set forth by Disney. They're more commonly referred to as the EPCOT (yes, acronym EPCOT) building codes. These codes dictate that any structure that cannot be moved out of the way of a hurricane must be able to withstand it. All the structures that cannot be moved must be able to withstand a MINIMUM cat. 5 hurricane forces (which include wind, rain, etc).

During the hurricanes last year, no guests had to leave the resort, none had to leave their rooms even. In the event of much stronger hurricanes, the Guests should still be safe.

 

[Amber]

A question came up over dinner tonight - we will be at the Grand Floridian next week, and some friends of ours will be staying at a different hotel (last we heard they didn't know which one - something to do with DVC but I don't know what the problem is.) Anyway, we were wondering if the parks closed because of a hurricane, can we leave? Would we be able to leave our hotel to go to another? Or are we stuck there until the storm passes?

 

[Thrawn]

Don't be silly. Hurricanes don't hit Florida.

__________________
On a serious note: Everyone saying a Cat 5 could never hit are wrong. Winds could easy reach the WDW property at Cat 5 speed if the hurricane is intense enough. That being said, I would venture to say you would have a lot of superficial problems with winds that intense. The castle, outdoor rides, Space Mountain, and ToT jump out at me at being prime problems. However, Florida's saving grace is its extremely high water table. Since it is a huge swamp, its nearly impossible to flood. And the storm surge would never reach WDW. I would believe that the hotels would be safe, with maybe the exception of the Contemporary, just because of the amounts of glass. Also, remember that the superdome was supposed to withstand 200mph winds. Well, the building withstood the (125mph) winds and didn't fall down down, but even at the much lower speed it took lots of damage.

I would think we shouldn't worry about this though. It really is TWDC's problem, and its rather gruesome to give damage projections on a hypothetical. Think happy thoughts.

 

[Thrawn]

A question came up over dinner tonight - we will be at the Grand Floridian next week, and some friends of ours will be staying at a different hotel (last we heard they didn't know which one - something to do with DVC but I don't know what the problem is.) Anyway, we were wondering if the parks closed because of a hurricane, can we leave? Would we be able to leave our hotel to go to another? Or are we stuck there until the storm passes?

There is a point where they will stop Disney transport. However, they can't stop you from going on your own. If you wanted to stay in a room for a day with your friends, theres nothing Disney could do.

 

[Amber]

Thank you! That's pretty much what we thought.

 

[peter11435]

I really have a hard time that all the buildings there were built to withstand 155+ mph. Thats not easy to do. I think if one came straight in from say, Cocoa, Disney, as well as all the other parks around here would be in serious trouble. Believe me those three storms we went through last year were nothing, the highest in Orlando was a cat. 1 with winds around 90. Now 5 would never hit Orlando, but a 4 could, I just hope it never does.

The EPCOT building codes (which are some of the strictist is the world) do require all permanent buildings to be built to withstand 200 mph winds. That said as Thawn pointed out, you will never know if that will work until it is tested.

 

[KumbaRider]

A question came up over dinner tonight - we will be at the Grand Floridian next week, and some friends of ours will be staying at a different hotel (last we heard they didn't know which one - something to do with DVC but I don't know what the problem is.) Anyway, we were wondering if the parks closed because of a hurricane, can we leave? Would we be able to leave our hotel to go to another? Or are we stuck there until the storm passes?

Please explain to me why you would want to be out in hurricane force winds? If you have been through major storms, you do not want to go out during these times.

 

[Bluewaves]

As far as I knew all the buildings in DisneyWorld are all supposed to be able to survive 180+++ winds, I wouldn't worry too much if one hit Disney it would just be a lot of trees down and cosmetic damage.

No worries.

 

[Amber]

The question was more to do with if we were locked down or not. IF it were ok for us to go, would we be able to or not? Not necesarily that we would want to, but would we BE ABLE to.

 

[10 min. to wdw]

I have to work during hurricanes, Please do me a favor make my job just a slight bit simpler during one of these storms don't go out in it. When you get stuck somewhere there may not be anyone to come and help. After the storm has passed is when people are killed they think its safe, but its far from it that can be the most dangerous time. Also hurricanes have a tendancy to hit at night and its hard to see outside.

Just stay at your resort and wait out the storm or go spend it at your friends DVC, but don't go out in it. Oh and there maybe curfews out where if your caught outside you can be arrested unless you have a ID that allows you to be out in it.

 

[Amber]

I have to work during hurricanes, Please do me a favor make my job just a slight bit simpler during one of these storms don't go out in it. When you get stuck somewhere there may not be anyone to come and help. After the storm has passed is when people are killed they think its safe, but its far from it that can be the most dangerous time. Also hurricanes have a tendancy to hit at night and its hard to see outside.

Just stay at your resort and wait out the storm or go spend it at your friends DVC, but don't go out in it. Oh and there maybe curfews out where if your caught outside you can be arrested unless you have a ID that allows you to be out in it.

That was the kind of information that we were looking for. It was just something that came up - not a plan or anything. Please don't seek me out and have me arrested for a question that I was told to ask.