Iliffe Media reporter caught up in Hurricane Milton in Florida

A county reporter is caught up in the hurricane in Florida.

James Turner, who works as one of the Lincolnshire Local Democracy Reporters for Iliffe Media, travelled to Orlando, Florida on Sunday.

Hurricane Milton crashed into Florida with at least 27 tornadoes so far and winds reaching up to 120mph winds – destroying homes and leaving millions without power.

Staying at a hotel at the Universal Studios Resort, James and his partner Lauren have spent two and a half days in the parks – enjoying the rides and attractions .

He said: “I saw a reel on Instagram and was a bit worried about what was going to happen. There was a bit of tension when we first arrived but no-one was really saying anything and the first day was really lovely weather. I had my shades on!”

On Wednesday, theme park officials announced the parks would be closing at 2pm and staying shut today (Thursday).

“It was a bit wet yesterday and some of the outdoor rollercoasters started to close before the park was fully shut, but we figured they wouldn’t be open if it wasn’t safe,” said James, speaking from his hotel room.

When they visited a local Walmart store, they found the shelves completely bare of bottled water.

The couple were amused to find that on return to their hotel yesterday, a DJ had been put on to entertain the packed crowds and he opened the set with ‘Rock You Like a Hurricane’ by The Scorpions, followed swiftly by The Weather Girls ‘It’s Raining Men’.

“It was an hour and a half of purely weather-based songs,” laughed James, who lives in Lincoln.

At just after 11pm, the couple received weather warnings on their phones and could hear the wind – not so badly though to stop James from promptly falling asleep.

“It did wake me up a few times,” said Lauren. “But no worse than storms in the UK.”

This morning, the couple woke up to an interview with LincsOnline and on looking out of their hotel window, James said: “There’s nothing broken – a few deckchairs have blown over.”

The couple have been inundated with texts from worried loved ones at home, which has made James ‘feel really nervous’.

They’ve avoided news reports but James said: “From what we’ve heard, it’s going to be a lot worse over in Tampa and a lot of people have evacuated from there to the hotels here. We’re just thankful it’s not as bad here.”

Universal Studios and Walt Disney World are set to remain closed today but James and Lauren are hopeful they can continue to enjoy their two-week break.

“Hopefully it’s not going to ruin our holiday but it certainly makes it very memorable,” he said.