Hurricane Milton worst in 25 years, says British expat who helps tourists

A British expat providing aid to tourists stuck in Florida hotels said Hurricane Milton was the worst storm he had seen in 25 years.

The Category 3 storm made landfall Wednesday evening with winds of more than 100 mph (160 km/h).

Phil Peachey, originally from West London, has lived in Orlando for 25 years and helps deliver water and supplies to visitors stranded due to extreme weather.

“This (storm) is by far the worst I have ever seen,” he told the PA news agency.

“The winds this morning around 4 a.m.…I live on a golf course and we have big trees here and I mean these trees were bending in half.”

Mr Peachey, who runs a small transport company catering to British tourists, said there was a lack of support for holidaymakers.

“Unfortunately, things have changed since the days when tour operators had representatives here to look after people,” he said.

“Really what happens is that when these poor tourists arrive on a package holiday, they have no idea what to do in an emergency like this, they don’t know where to shop .

“No one told them anything… they couldn’t buy water or anything for the children.

“So I just loaded up the truck, went to the pantry and bought a full load of water.”

Authorities have issued mandatory evacuation orders in 15 Florida counties, with a total population of about 7.2 million.

Orange County, where Mr. Peachey lives, is under a state of emergency and residents should prepare to evacuate if conditions worsen, amid an increased risk of tornadoes and up to 12 inches of rain according to Orange County government.

“Local government has been good to residents because we understand what’s going on and we live with it every year,” Peachey said.

“But it’s the tourists, it’s the Brits on holiday from Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales.

“They come in and they’ve seen storms and hurricanes on TV, but I mean, once you’re in there, stuck in some kind of budget hotel with little kids, it’s scary as hell, n isn’t it?

“The hotel doors are slamming and the windows are shaking – what the hell are you doing? It’s terrifying.

Jan, a British expat who lives in Palmetto on Florida’s west coast and who did not want to share her last name, described tiles being ripped off the roof of her home overnight.

A retired IT technical writer, who grew up in Edmonton, north London, Jan told the PA news agency: “The electricity went out at around 9pm, something hit the house at 9pm 30 and we lost roof tiles.

“I got this emergency radio about three or four months ago and it was telling us what was happening as it happened: the wind was blowing about 101 miles an hour and I think up to midnight we had about 10 inches of wind. rain.

“All the fire alarms went off and the one in the bedroom was dripping with water. The cats were running around crying and scared because of the noise.”

Jan said she also doesn’t have internet and doesn’t know when it — or her power — might come back after Wednesday night’s outage.

Hurricane Milton caused at least four deaths and left more than three million homes and businesses without power.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said travelers should monitor approaching storms on the US National Hurricane Center website and follow instructions from local authorities, including evacuation orders.