Influencers on social media have stirred anger online for not canceling their Walt Disney World vacations or refusing to leave their Florida homes despite the impending threat of Hurricane Milton, which meteorologists expect to be hugely destructive once it makes landfall, likely near Tampa late Wednesday.
Some influencers sparked concern by resuming their travels to Florida despite Hurricane Milton. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
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Key Takeaways
- Cecily Bauchmann, a social media influencer with more than 2.2 million TikTok followers, posted a now-deleted video earlier this week that has been reuploaded by other users in which she says she’s going to Disney World, prompting outrage from users (it’s unclear where she’s staying now).
- Influencer and writer Caroline Calloway posted to her Instagram stories admitting she is “a little concerned I live right on the beach,” further clarifying in an X post that she won’t be leaving her Sarasota, Florida, home despite living in an evacuation zone.
- TikTok user @jill200016, who goes by Mama Jill, posted a series of videos stating she arrived at Walt Disney World in Orlando earlier this week and didn’t know a hurricane was coming, but said she’s remaining in the area because she couldn’t get a flight out.
- Another TikTok user, who has more than 200,000 followers, has garnered millions of views and thousands of comments criticizing her videos stating she won’t leave her large Florida home, despite it being situated right on the water, because her husband built it with “solid concrete.”
- Adin Ross, a popular streamer with more than 7 million followers on Instagram, said on a livestream he would offer $30,000 to someone who would stream the hurricane on the ground in Florida, upping it to $75,000 if the person gets “seriously injured”—prompting wide mockery in TikTok comments.
- Forbes has reached out to these influencers for comment.
Chief Critics
Social media users have slammed some influencers who have chosen to stay in Florida during the hurricanes. Bauchmann deleted her video about heading to Florida, possibly in response to criticism, though users have criticized her in the comment sections of her other TikTok videos. Commenters slammed Bauchmann for not rescheduling and for planning to take her children to Florida, while thousands liked a comment calling her “out of touch.”
“You’re telling me that Cecily Bauchmann is still taking her entire family to Disney knowing Florida has been declared a state of emergency…” one TikTok user said in a video liked more than 50,000 times. Another user uploaded a video, viewed hundreds of thousands of times, mocking those who chose to ignore hurricane warnings and travel to Disney.
“Did I hear about Milton? No, who’s Milton?” she says in the satirical video. The Daily Mail reposted a video Calloway had uploaded to Instagram in which she explains why she won’t evacuate, with one commenter calling the video “hard to watch.”
Why Do Some Say Disney Is A Safe Place During A Hurricane?
Though Walt Disney World announced it would close its theme parks beginning Wednesday as it braces for the hurricane, some consider it a safe haven during the storm because the park’s generators can provide electricity. People Magazine reported Disney World hotels are staffed by “ride-out crews” during hurricanes, and restaurants still operate but may pivot to grab-and-go options.
Walt Disney chose Orlando as the location for Walt Disney World instead of a coastal city, like Miami, to reduce the impact it would face from storms, Fox Weather reported. Disney World buildings were also constructed to be able to withstand high winds. A Goldman Sachs report Tuesday estimated closures and other disruptions from the hurricane could cause a $150 million and $200 million loss this quarter for Disney’s parks division.
News Peg
Hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall Wednesday night near Tampa, Florida, which the National Hurricane Center has said will be “extremely dangerous.” The storm has fluctuated between Category 4 and Category 5 and has maximum sustained winds of about 145 miles per hour as of Wednesday morning.
Millions of Floridians have been ordered to evacuate, and the National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration warned the “time to prepare, including evacuate if told to do so, is quickly coming to an end.” More than 50 Florida counties are currently under a state of emergency. Officials have warned the storm surge, abnormal rises in sea water levels caused by a storm, could be as high as 10 to 15 feet above the ground. Tampa Mayor Jane Castor warned the storm surge levels could submerge single-story homes, telling residents: “You want to pick a fight with Mother Nature, she’s winning 100 percent of the time.”
