British expat stuck in Hurricane Milton forced to cook outside after storm hammers home

A Brit who was raised in North London shares her experience in Florida after being hit by Hurricane Milton.

By Holly Kintuka, Reporter

Waves crashing Florida

Hurricane Milton hit Wednesday evening (Image: Getty)

A British expat has been forced to cook outside as winds of over 100 miles per hour hammer into the Sunshine State.

Hurricane Milon, which has caused at least 27 tornados to hit the state of Florida, has left over three million homes and businesses without power.

Jan, who now lives in Palmetto, Florida, is among the millions who have been affected.

Speaking about the Hurricane which hit on Wednesday evening, the 68-year-old, who did not give her surname, said: ““The power went out about 9pm.

"Something hit the house at 9.30pm and we’ve lost tiles from the roof.”

She added: “I got this emergency radio about three or four months ago and was telling us what was happening as it was going on – the wind was going up to about 101 miles an hour and I think up until midnight, we had about 10 inches of rain.”

She recalled all the fire alarms in her house going off. She said: “the one in the bedroom was dripping water – the cats were running around crying and scared because of the noise.””

Jan, originally from Edmonton in north London, has been left with no internet or power, unsure of when it will return. She is also unable to use most of her appliances, leaving her with no choice but to rely on using a grill outside to cook her meals.

A tornado and strong winds in florida

Four people have died from tornados as Hurricane Milton hits Florida (Image: Getty)

She is one of the thousands of Brits living in the state where the hurricane hit.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: "There was an increasing risk of a life-threatening storm surge on the west coast, and heavy rainfall and high winds are expected to affect large parts of Florida."

Over 50 counties in Florida were put under a state of emergency when the hurricane hit, with some parts experiencing 1-in-1000-year amounts of rain.

It has been reported that four people have been killed by tornadoes on the state's east coast, and fires have broken out in Matlacha, an island off Florida's western coast.

Hurricane Milton is moving away into the Atlantic Ocean but officials have warned residents that the heavy winds and rain remain overland.

Would you like to receive news notifications from Daily Express?