A Fife woman who was caught up in both Hurricane Helene and Milton say the experience was “petrifying”.
Stacey Rosocki, 39, was holidaying in Orlando with her family when she was caught up in both hurricanes.
While Florida was spared the wrath of Helene, the sunshine state took a direct hit from Category 3 storm Milton – leaving nearly 20 people dead.
Stacey, who has been to Florida around 10 times now, says it could not have been any different from the usual “hot and stunning” weather.
Florida hurricanes disrupt Fife family’s holiday
The Kirkcaldy woman travelled with her parents, husband, two children, sister, niece and nephew and their partners.
She told The Courier: “My dad doesn’t keep well and we planned our last family trip ever to Florida, we booked for three weeks for our whole family.
“It was absolutely terrifying, especially for our younger kids, and more so my son Codey who has autism, ADHD, albinism, anxiety and sensory issues.
“Hurricane Helene was the scariest thing we had faced while here in Florida, we were told to stay away from water and windows.
“The news was frantic, the people were frantic, we were alerted to stock up on supplies for three days on our first week and we had horrific winds and rain.”
Stacey said the next week or so after Helene they were treated to amazing weather and sunshine.
However, on the final week of the holiday, the weather turned again as Milton began approaching from the Gulf of Mexico.
The hurricane brought 24 hours of torrential rain, high winds and tornado warnings as the family bunkered down.
Hurricane Milton ‘absolutely terrifying’
“Hurricane Milton hit us and the trees were getting torn up around Florida. Roofs were being blown off and cars were being picked up – it was absolutely terrifying,” she added.
“We were in the Windsor Island Resort and they assured us they were hurricane-built, but they couldn’t guarantee us our lives.
“So we as a family decided to stay put at our villa – we were assured the roof was strapped down from the inside, and the windows and doors were reinforced against the hurricane and tornados.
“The sound of the wind through the walls was so loud, when we looked out the window our trees were blown so hard they lay flat in the ground.
“The cage for our swimming pool was moving and we were convinced it was going to fly away.
“People had their windows boarded up, and we were told to sleep inside our walk-in wardrobe.
Florida hurricane ‘like the movie Twister’
“The rain & the storm was so incredibly loud and strong, the noises were petrifying.
“The kids cried so we made them giggle and told them ‘we live in Scotland we are used to this weather’ and this helped them a lot.
“We watched movies and had munchies and stayed as a family, literally scared for our lives.
“Everyone back in the UK was messaging us begging us to come home but all the airlines were closed, it was absolutely horrific.
“The noises were like something out of the movie Twister, it was honestly like living inside a movie, it was petrifying.”
The family have since returned home to Fife, but helped out where they could once the storm passed, describing the scenes as “absolutely devastating”.
But Stacey added: “The whole of Florida all came together.”
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