A Kent man living on the coast of Florida says he is simply in “a waiting state” as he prepares for one of the biggest hurricanes ever to hit the region.
Jacob Gallagher, 46 was born in Canterbury but now lives in St Lucie County on the east coast of the state, halfway between Fort Lauderdale and Cape Canaveral.
The area, which has a population of more than 300,000, is one of the 51 counties in The Sunshine State under a state of emergency ahead of the expected arrival of Hurricane Milton tonight.
With winds of around 155mph officials say the storm, currently a Category 4 out of 5, will be “deadly and catastrophic” when it reaches the coast in the coming hours.
It has forced hundreds of thousands of residents to flee the area in and around Tampa in a huge evacuation effort, with US President Joe Biden warning leaving was a matter of “life and death”.
The US National Hurricane Center adds Milton could bring a storm surge of up to 15ft around the Tampa Bay area.
This will result in huge amounts of water being pushed ashore and up into rivers and bays – a phenomenon which is likely to cause the most damage and deaths.
Mr Gallagher says he is bracing himself for Milton’s impact around 150 miles away in Port St Lucie where the storm could leave the city facing a Category 2 storm and winds of around 110mph by the time it hits.
The aircraft engineer told KentOnline: “Basically, we’re just in a waiting state for the hurricane to make landfall on the west coast around Tampa Bay.
“It’s going to come across land and looks like it might hit a bit north of us but we’re going to have to see.
“They’re unpredictable and can go north or south so we’re just waiting.”
The arrival of the hurricane has also seen Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld all close their theme parks today with no reopening date yet announced.
This is alongside officials at Orlando International Airport cancelling all of its flights.
Despite Mr Gallagher remaining at his home in Port St Lucie, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan is still preparing for the worst.
He added: “I have put up window shutters which are aluminium corrugated metal in case we get massive winds and debris flies into the house.
“We’ve also gone grocery shopping and bought flashlights, candles, water and have toilet paper already – people can go crazy and buy a bunch of that for some reason.
“So we may lose power which is a possibility depending on the miles per hour of the wind we get, so we’re all set up.
“The hurricane will probably go to the channel under St Petersburg where the Sunshine Skyway Bridge is and that will get hit pretty hard I guess.
“People are evacuating and some people are going to try and ride it out, but the I-75 [highway] northbound is chock-a-block and even in Orlando it’s [the hurricane] supposed to go across there.
“So everyone is trying to be as cautious as possible and as safe as possible with their family.”
Hurricane Milton’s arrival would come less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene hit the Gulf Coast as a Category 4 storm – the highest category is a 5.
The tragedy resulted in the deaths of at least 225 people with many still missing.
