News Major Hurricane Dorian impacts to Walt Disney World 2019

[Disney Analyst]

One of our Canadian airlines.

 

[WDW862]

The greatest danger to Orlando is NOT winds - it's rain/water. If the storm stalls or moves slowly (like Harvey) then that's when Central Florida faces the worst case scenario. Being that far inland, the winds simply aren't the biggest worry and are VERY unlikely to be greater than 80 mph sustained, which isn't enough to cause major damage.

Central Florida will still get tornados. And 80 mph sustained is enough to damage roofs and knock down trees.

 

[Sped2424]

Let's all keep pushing it out to sea lol

 

[worldfanatic]

The greatest danger to Orlando is NOT winds - it's rain/water. If the storm stalls or moves slowly (like Harvey) then that's when Central Florida faces the worst case scenario. Being that far inland, the winds simply aren't the biggest worry and are VERY unlikely to be greater than 80 mph sustained, which isn't enough to cause major damage.

That's true for Orlando, but not necessarily Walt Disney World, whose drainage is pretty exceptional with a few exceptions.
Dodging the worst of the winds would make for a much easier WDW recovery.
However, the Cast Members would still have to make through the floods to work.

 

[Mainahman]

I'm already at 2 beers and 4 shots - and it isn't close yet!

your my hero!

 

[WDW862]

Hurricane Tornadoes are typically extremely weak. Yes, I live in a major hurricane zone and deal with them first hand. Also, 80mph winds are NOT enough to cause significant damage to structures built to hurricane standards.

Weak tornadoes can still kill and cause damage. And many structures in Central Florida were built way before the new standards.

 

[WDW862]

So can thunderstorms.

Your point is? Thunderstorms don't stall over the state, devlier 20+ inches of rain and consistently spawn tornadoes. Everyone is at some level of risk, unless this thing takes a u-turn towards the Carolinas.

 

[worldfanatic]

I was wondering when the next fight on this thread would start.

Now Boys....behave.

 

[rickdrat]

The greatest danger to Orlando is NOT winds - it's rain/water. If the storm stalls or moves slowly (like Harvey) then that's when Central Florida faces the worst case scenario. Being that far inland, the winds simply aren't the biggest worry and are VERY unlikely to be greater than 80 mph sustained, which isn't enough to cause major damage.

I understand that. Hence the emphasis on the flash flooding possibility. It will, however, still be windy. Perhaps not roof destroying windy, but not safe to be out windy.

 

[wm49rs]

The greatest danger to Orlando is NOT winds - it's rain/water. If the storm stalls or moves slowly (like Harvey) then that's when Central Florida faces the worst case scenario. Being that far inland, the winds simply aren't the biggest worry and are VERY unlikely to be greater than 80 mph sustained, which isn't enough to cause major damage.

University holding your meteorological degree for overdue library books, are they?

 

[Yert3]

The past few updates have put the eye closer and closer to riding up the coast. It’ll be interesting if the eye ends up avoiding Florida all together.

 

[donsullivan]

My point (ask ANYONE who is actually very in-the-know about inland tropical systems) is that the primary threat to Central Florida is NOT winds, and NOT tornadoes. It is flooding - which is a serious threat if the storm moves very slowly or (God Forbid) stalls. That's the true worst case scenario for WDW.

The primary threat to life is water. The primary threat to property is wind.

 

[wm49rs]

Nope. But lived through some of the worst hurricanes in history.... trying to correct misinformation.

No, you're just trying to add your particular spin on things....

 

[RustySpork]

The greatest danger to Orlando is NOT winds - it's rain/water. If the storm stalls or moves slowly (like Harvey) then that's when Central Florida faces the worst case scenario. Being that far inland, the winds simply aren't the biggest worry and are VERY unlikely to be greater than 80 mph sustained, which isn't enough to cause major damage.

That's only partly true, and largely dependent on the direction that the storm comes from. Even with 80MPH sustained, gusts and tornados that spawn from them can and do still cause significant damage. Orlando is pretty large as well, the eastern edge of the city is only about 35 or 40 miles from KSC. A storm coming across town from the east / south east would be significantly stronger than a storm that came from the west / south west.

 

[Andrew C]

Yay! Science!

 

[LAKid53]

Hurricane Tornadoes are typically extremely weak. Yes, I live in a major hurricane zone and deal with them first hand. Also, 80mph winds are NOT enough to cause significant damage to structures built to hurricane standards.

80 mph sustained winds will damage roofs, knock down trees and severely damage mobile homes. Hermine made landfall with near 80 mph winds. It was very scary.

Don't know where you get your info on hurricane produced tornadoes, but they are not always "weak". An F1 tornado has winds up to 112 mph. Michael spawned numerous tornadoes.

ETA: Thanks @JohnD for catching my typo

 

[LAKid53]

If enough water fell, WDW absolutely could flood. It all depends on volume. Look to Houston (well above sea level) for a comparison. Flooding would be the true disaster as your favorite place on earth would be closed for months if the parks flooded. Note MK IS well above the terrain and is very very unlikely to flood, but other parts of resort are absolutely vulnerable IF there's enough water. But even with MK, if the Utilidor flooded, the park would be close for a long time. Flooding is truly horrible.

Houston is relatively flat and barely above sea level. Houston flooded due to the poor design of the city.

 

[LAKid53]

The primary threat to life is water. The primary threat to property is wind.

Bingo

 

[RustySpork]

When talking about science, it's helpful to have a) personal experience with the topic, or b) be trained in the science. 35-40 miles is a big distance in the world of hurricanes. Even that kind of distance will drastically reduce wind intensity, leaving the primary threat to be, again, water.

The literal rows of snapped trees and damaged roofs in my neighborhood from tornados during Irma are greater than your made-up science knowledge. That hurricane came from the south-west. 35-40 miles will slow a storm, certainly, but the damage will still be far more significant from the northwest quadrant of the storm hitting us than a storm coming across the 60-70 miles from the west or south west and hitting from the weaker northeast quadrant.

 

[WDW862]

Again. Not true. Do you live in a hurricane zone? That's true IF you are not inland. The costliest hurricane in history was Harvey, followed by Katrina. Did wind cause most of the property damage with either storm?

You should tell that to my neighbors who had significant roof damage from Irma. 70 miles inland. Don't get me started on Hurricane Charley