Corkman Paul McCarthy has told Red Fm that he thought “this is it” on Wednesday night when Hurricane Milton hit Florida where he has lived for a number of years.

“This was my fifth hurricane, and it was the worst for sure. We were asked to evacuate, and I was never asked to evacuate before from this building.”

Mr McCarthy explained that he lived on the fifth floor of a condominium in a golf resort. The golf course was now “like a lake” and houses “beyond the fairway are like submarines right now. One house was destroyed, and I’m a mile and a half from the beaches.”

The Ballincollig native estimated that between 60 per cent and 70 per cent of houses in the area have been destroyed. Some had already been damaged by Hurricane Helene two weeks ago.

“We were lucky that we didn’t get a big surge yesterday because I went into Sarasota. That’s where I’m living. I live in Pinellas County, west of Tampa, but it’s like there’s no beach. There are two beaches. Now there’s no sand. That’s all in Orlando. And then we get hit last night. So it’s a double whammy. It’s the first time everybody had to evacuate, and the island is gone, and the beaches are destroyed.”

Mr McCarthy and some of his neighbours who also live on higher floors in the concrete building, had decided to “stick it out. But I tell you, it was the first time I was scared.” He was now hopeful that the worst had passed.

“It’s still windy outside. It’s still making noise and it’s very eerie. There’s no electricity anywhere, but we’re surviving.”

“It’s like a war zone. It’s very eerie and it’s very sad.”