Orange County under state of emergency: theme parks remain open, hotels accepting evacuees

Orange County is now under a local state of emergency. The area is not under a mandatory evacuation order.

County Mayor Jerry Demings says that means residents can expect tropical storm force winds and as much as 5 inches of rain.

He said he doesn’t expect the theme parks to close, but if winds get high enough, they might for a few hours.

“But they will have to make a call based upon the weather circumstances at the time. I suspect that there will be some times that they may periodically close," said Demings.

Demings said there’s also good news for the folks who will be evacuating from the Gulf Coast tonight to Central Florida.

“Our hotel occupancy levels are still at a level where people can come in," said Demings. "That is part of the role we play in the statewide response for the entire peninsula."

The area could experience sustained winds as high as 40 mph. Wind gusts could rise to 55 mph.

Four shelters are already open in the area, two special needs shelters, and two general population shelters.

The county is encouraging anyone in a mobile home or trailer, to evacuate and move to a shelter immediately. Anyone who is not a first responder, should finish their preps and then stay off the road to make room for emergency medical operations.

Here are those four shelters again in Orange County: