A Brandon hair salon owner has spoken of her fears for her daughter who lives in Florida where Hurricane Milton has caused widespread devastation.
Sarah Lancaster, who owns Elevan Hairdressing in the west Suffolk town, said her 26-year-old daughter Molly evacuated from the Tampa home she shares with her husband.
The pair, who met when Molly attended university in Indianapolis, are now staying in Orlando, roughly a two-hour drive from their home, to avoid the worst-hit area.
"They did get evacuation orders so they left on Tuesday in the evening, around 8pm," Mrs Lancaster said.
"They only went to the Orlando area which is still obviously getting hit but we have heard from them since and they do still have power there - but it is really really windy."
Mrs Lancaster said the news the hurricane was heading for her daughter's home left her "panicked".
"This happens quite regularly and they went through Helene and didn't have to evacuate - but this time it felt different.
"The media was so intense and they were using words like 'unsurvivable' and it was beginning to make me feel a bit more panicked.
"I felt more than any other time that there were less choices for them to get far enough away. Because of the scale of it there was also a lot of traffic for them to get through, so it was a worry."
Mrs Lancaster, whose husband was US Air Force personnel and is now retired from RAF Mildenhall, hosted an event on Wednesday, October 9, inviting those with loved ones in Florida to the salon for a free blow dry and a cup of coffee.
Posting on Facebook, she wrote: "We like many of you have family and loved ones in Florida.
"Come hang out with us at Elevan and get a free blow dry and a cup of coffee while we wait, don't sit home and stress alone."
On Thursday, Mrs Lancaster said: "We wanted to offer the salon as a place to meet as it gives a bit of a community feel and now we can follow up with some of the people that came and check in with each other to make sure we're all doing okay.
"It also kept me busy and gave me a chance to not worry so much," she added.
Hurricane Milton made landfall on Wednesday night in Siesta Key near Sarasota, about 70 miles south of Tampa.
About 90 minutes after making landfall, it was downgraded from a category three storm to a category two.
By early Thursday, the hurricane was a category one storm with maximum sustained winds of about 85 mph as it churned about 35 miles south of Orlando.
At a news conference in Tallahassee, governor Ron DeSantis described deployment of a wide range of resources, including 9,000 National Guard members from Florida and other states; over 50,000 utility workers from as far as California; and highway patrol cars with sirens to escort gasoline tankers to replenish supplies so people could fill up their tanks before evacuating.
“Unfortunately, there will be fatalities. I don’t think there’s any way around that,” he said.
As of Thursday evening UK time, at least four people had died in the storm.
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