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Florida's airports, attractions reopen following Hurricane Milton

Airports in Tampa, Orlando and Fort Myers are set to reopen on Friday.
Southwest Airlines employees cover the ticket counters.
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While over 2 million customers remain without power, some Florida attractions and airports reopened on Friday following Hurricane Milton.

Tampa International Airport reopened Friday at 8 a.m. The airport reopened after canceling over 1,000 flights over the last three days, according to Flight Aware. The airport has canceled 26% of its scheduled departures on Friday as operations slowly resume.

Orlando International Airport is also slowly returning to normal after allowing some arrivals late Thursday. The airport resumed departures on Friday. Even with being reopen, 22% of flights departing Orlando on Friday have been canceled.

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Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers resumed operations on Friday after canceling nearly 200 flights on Thursday. Like Tampa and Orlando, about one in five flights leaving Southwest Florida International have been canceled on Friday.

Although the major airports in Tampa and Orlando resumed operations on Friday, Sarasota Bradenton International Airport said the airport will remain closed through at least Wednesday of next week as officials continue assessing the damage there. The airport handles over 100 commercial flights per day.

Some major attractions also reopened on Friday as well. Disney said that Walt Disney World, Disney Springs and other areas have reopened. Universal Orlando said that it resumed normal operations on Friday. SeaWorld Orlando also reopened on Friday.

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In Tampa, which is closer to where Hurricane Milton made landfall, Busch Gardens remained closed on Friday.

Although in some parts of Florida, life is returning to normal, crews are still assessing the damage and picking up debris. Officials have warned residents to avoid downed power lines as crews work to restore service.

In addition to damage from Hurricane Milton's wind, rain and storm surge, it spawned dozens of tornadoes throughout the state.