Guernsey man living in Florida describes Hurricane Milton as 'worse than predicted'

A Guernsey man living in Florida has described how Hurricane Milton has caused significant damage to his business.

Hurricane Milton made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane with winds of 120mph, and at least 27 tornadoes across the state.

Reports say at least four people have been killed, with millions of people left without power.

Steve Duquemin told ITV News that despite the bar damage, they "faired pretty well at the homestead". Credit: ITV Channel

ITV News previously spoke to Guernseyman Steve Duquemin before the start of the hurricane on Wednesday 9 October.

Now Steve has described what he woke up to after a night of heavy rain and life-threatening winds.

He explains: "It was actually worse than what I predicted although yesterday afternoon my heart was in my mouth when I spoke to you, last night was even worse."

Steve says his house remains unscathed, but when it comes to his bar business, he says it could take months to repair.

"The [hurricane] sounded like a train was outside the door, I could only assume at that time it was a tornado very close." - Steve Duquemin Credit: Steve Duquemin

The bar's windows have been blown in and both the inside and outside are covered in mud and sewage.

Steve explains: "Apparently downtown, our dumpster is floating somewhere in the parking lot and we have boats in our parking lot from the river.

"The actual sound outside the building was horrendous. It was so scary because it was dark, you can't see what's coming at you."

Homes have had their roofs ripped off by the wind and flood water has submerged entire streets. Credit: ITV News

A spokesperson from the Met Office told ITV News: "So the wind strengths certainly did come down from the peak of category five but it was still a category three at landfall.

"Also, there were some exceptional rainfall totals built up around the area where it made landfall and there's been some severe flash flooding in the Tampa region.

"We saw one report of as much as 130mm of rain falling in just one hour."

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know...