Donegal man living in Florida says Hurricane Milton was ‘terrifying’

By Dionne Meehan

A DONEGAL man living in Florida said his experience with deadly Hurricane Milton was “scary”.

On Thursday, Hurricane Milton spawned dozens of tornadoes in the State resulting in multiple fatalities, power loss, flooding and significant damage to homes.

Donegal man Tommy Byrne, who lives 20 minutes from Disney, moved to the area six years ago with his family from Mountcharles.

The family are best known for their family band ‘The Byrne Brothers’, spending the majority of their time performing at festivals all over America.

Hurricane Milton was their first experience of a hurricane since they relocated.

Ahead of the hurricane, an emergency alert was sent out to locals.

It read: “Take shelter now in a basement or an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building. If you are outdoors, in a mobile home or in a vehicle, move to the closest substantial shelter and protect yourself from flying debris.”

Speaking to the Donegal News as the havoc was unfolding, Mr Byrne said: “We are hunkered down at our house, just waiting and hoping the tornadoes pass us by.”

The Byrne family are living in a newly built, hurricane safe house.

Two bathrooms in their home are without windows to ensure their safety in the event of a hurricane.

“We have one bathroom ready with cushions, food, water, a grab bag with passports and green cards, cash and our instruments,” Mr Byrne continued.

“That is in case we get hit with a tornado.

“They are everywhere.

“Lights are flickering,” he said.

With winds reaching a speed of 90mph in the area, Mr Byrne said the scariest bit was the noise.

“When you get a big, long gust, it howls and whistles like a train,” he said.

“It’s like a train trying to blow our front door down.

“You can feel the air pressure sucking and pushing the air in and out of the house like it’s trying to pop the roof off,” he said.

With rescue efforts now underway, Mr Byrne confirmed he and his family remained “safe and sound” as the hurricane cut a destructive path across the State.

“We’re all safe and sound, with no real damage to property,” he concluded.

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