A Barry couple has evacuated from hurricane Milton

The category 5 hurricane is estimated to wreak havoc on the west coast of Florida late on Wednesday night, with winds of up to 165mph.

The National Hurricane Centre (NHC) expects Milton to make landfall as an ‘extremely dangerous major hurricane.'

Julie Leaden and Ciaran Leaden at Ole Bay Cafe at Dunedin Harbour last week. (Image: Julie Leaden) Julie Leaden 62, and Ciaran Leaden 60, both from Barry have owned their Florida home since 2019.

The couple have evacuated from their Dunedin home in Pinellas County to Ocala which is around 100 miles north and approximately 50 miles inland. 

To protect themselves from danger the couple have only packed the essentials.

Julie said: “Our home is more or less in the eye of the storm but who knows if it will survive, we’ve left with a hurricane kit, small suitcase, and our essentials and anything precious to us.”

“We just need to remain hopeful that our home doesn’t sustain too much damage it’s such a scary time as all we can do it watch and wait.”

Florida has recently only recovered from a previous hurricane Helene which had sustained winds of 140mph.Trees in the wind (Image: NQ) Helene flooded streets and homes in western Florida along its devastating route that left at least 230 dead across the South.

Julie said: “We’re trying to stay positive but very nervous about what is going to happen to the whole of Florida and especially our lovely home and town.

“We have only just been thru Hurricane Helene 10 days ago which caused significant damage to Dunedin.”

Image of hurricane Milton from the international space station (Image: NASA) Hurricane Milton will carry wind speeds greater than 155mph and bring storm surges that exceed 18ft.

A number of airports in Florida are closing to commercial operations, such as Orlando International, Melbourne Orlando International and Tampa International.

A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said: “Due to severe weather conditions expected to be caused by Hurricane Milton, a state of emergency has been declared in Florida, and Tampa and Orlando airports are closing.

“Unfortunately, this has impacted our flying schedule and services to and from Orlando and Tampa are subject to cancellations and delays.”

Tui said its flying programme will be “extremely disrupted” due to the hurricane.

The travel company said it had cancelled a flight from London Gatwick to Melbourne Orlando, and two flights to the US airport from Birmingham and Glasgow due to operate on Thursday have been delayed until Friday.

British Airways cancelled six flights connecting Gatwick with Orlando and Tampa on Wednesday.

The airline said in a statement: 'Safety is always our highest priority and we continue to monitor the situation closely.'