Harray man facing the might of Hurricane Milton

A Harray man and his wife are bunkering down and riding out deadly Hurricane Milton.

Milton, which was a category five hurricane, has been downgraded to a category one but is still causing devastation in Florida, bringing with it 100mph winds, deaths and widespread damage.

Sean Munson, whose family own The Merkister Hotel, and his wife Stephanie live in Orlando, with their pet Chihuahua Charlie.

Speaking on Wednesday night, prior to the hurricane’s arrival, Sean, who moved to Orlando in 2019, told The Orcadian that his responsibilities as a restaurant manager precluded him from fleeing from the area.

“Had I not been in the situation with work that I’m in, we probably would have gone elsewhere,” said Sean.

Instead, they have taken emergency precautions, such as barricading doors with sandbags and securing their outside area, as the hurricane rips through.

He said that you could feel the nervousness in the air as people either evacuated the area or prepared to face the hurricane’s might, boarding windows, securing doors and stocking up supplies.

He said there had been an influx of people from coastal communities like Tampa moving inland.

“Living in Orlando and working in the industry that I’m in, I’m used to working with folk who are on holiday and having a good time,” said Sean, who said his company’s hotels were close to capacity as people fled from their homes.

“It is very sombre when you’re dealing with folk who were forced to evacuate where they are from and they don’t know what they’re going back too.”

This is not the first hurricane Sean has experienced while living in Orlando, having faced Hurricane Ian two years ago.

However, he did believe that this would not be on the scale of Milton.

He and Stephanie had stocked up on supplies, including batteries and torches, but did say that bottled water had been in short supply.