A BARNSLEY man who sought his dream life in Florida is doing his best to remain calm as he hunkered down to seek safety from the catastrophic hurricane that ripped through the American state yesterday.

Richard Butterwood, originally from Royston, moved to Tampa in 1999 to achieve his dream of living in a warm, sunny environment.

Throughout his time there he has maintained his Barnsley identity and to this day talks with an accent and remains a ‘long-suffering’ Reds fan.

Now though, Hurricane Milton - a storm which is said to be the worst the state has seen in a century - is threatening everything he’s built, with his family taking shelter to avoid the ongoing devastation which saw six million people evacuate.

He told the Chronicle: “Where we live is five miles out from the evacuation zone.

“We’re still in the cone of its path though so it could come this way.

“I know a lot of people who have evacuated to Georgia - the roads were crazy.

“We’re staying put and we’ve put up all of our hurricane shutters.”

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The state was already devastated by Hurricane Helene just two weeks back, with winds reaching 140mph - the streets remain covered in debris that Richard says become like ‘missiles’ once caught up in the wind.

By the time Milton made landfall in nearby St Petersburg, it had been demoted from a category five storm to category three, bringing winds that exceeded speeds of 100mph and downed power lines, causing around three million homes to lose power.

Mayor Jane Castor put out a dire warning earlier in the week, saying that there has ‘never been one like this’ and those in the evacuation zone who chose to stay ‘are going to die’.

Though Richard - who is the son of former St Helen’s ward councillor Roy Butterwood - feels prepared to handle the potential danger after surviving Hurricane Irma back in 2017.

“For this one people are freaking out but I’m trying to stay calm.

“A lot of people have generators but we’ve just got battery back-ups so we can keep our phones charged.

“We’re expecting to lose power - we don’t know how long for, that might be a day or a week.

“Last time there was no food in the stores and we couldn’t get petrol, so I fuelled up on Sunday and I’ve got enough.

“It’s going to be bad, especially for people closer to the water.”

Thankfully, Richard says that he ‘got very lucky’ and while 75 per cent of people in his area lost power, he didn’t and his home had ‘no major damage’.

Though there’s been a lot of mess, with him adding: “There’s going to be lots to clean up for me in the coming days.”