Borderland residents in Florida await Hurricane Milton

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- As Hurricane Milton makes landfall in Florida, ABC-7 spoke with Borderland residents currently in Florida to learn what the current situation is and how they are preparing.

Meghan Arriola, an El Pasoan visiting Orlando, told ABC-7 that they have experienced rain throughout all of Wednesday, with strong winds picking up at times.

Arriola said she had planned this trip months in advance to attend a convention for animal creators and visit Disney World as part of the trip. Arriola is an animal educator on YouTube who makes content on how to take care of animals.

“When I left El Paso, there wasn't anything going on about a hurricane. In fact, the last one had just happened, so I was like, 'Okay, we're going to be safe. We're fine,'” said Arriola.

Despite learning about Hurricane Milton once the convention began in Orlando, Arriola said she and her husband decided to stay and finish up the trip, which would end on Saturday. Arriola told ABC-7 that they are currently staying at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge, something that influenced their decision to stay.

"Disney has backup generators and everything. So they had already made an announcement that they were going to provide food and activities and things if we did end up having to stay in the hotel,” said Arriola.

Walt Disney World closed early on Wednesday and will be closed all of Thursday as a result of Hurricane Milton.