A WYEDEAN expat has emerged from his storm-battered home to start the clear-up operation after sitting through the biggest recorded hurricane to hit America’s mainland.

World medal rower Jim Hartland, whose parents, brother and sister still live in Monmouth, said: “It was like a freight train going right past your window. It was pretty scary sitting inside my Orlando home waiting for it to pass over.

“I’ve never heard wind or rain like it, it was deafening, just howling, and I’ve sat through a few hurricanes over here in Florida.

“Hurricane Charlie in 2004 was quite bad but only took about an hour to pass. But Hurricane Irma took for ever to move on, about 24 hours. It has to be the worst I’ve seen, it was just unrelenting, with winds of up to 140mph.

“There are trees and branches down all over the place and lots of debris lying around, and the creek at the bottom of my cul-de-sac is now an overflowing river.”

The former Monmouth School pupil, 47, who works in Florida as a physiotherapist, said: “I boarded up all the windows with plywood and nailed everything down on Saturday and it was just a question of waiting for it to hit and sitting it out.

“All the roads were empty and no one was working or out and about before it hit Orlando about midday on Sunday. It got stronger and stronger, and then just as I went to bed, they said it had changed direction and was heading straight for us, which was just what I wanted to hear!

“My sister Kate texted me about 2am to see if I was OK, and I stuck my head out to see what was happening, and it was absolutely foul. It was unsafe to go out, with bangs and wallops of stuff flying around and crashing into things.

“The wind was just howling and the rain was completely horizontal. Every time you thought it might be letting up a bit, it just came again, it was completely nuts.

“It seemed really chaotic, a total melee. That’s because we were on the east side of the eye of the storm and it was lifting all this turbulence and moisture off the sea, creating lots of tornados.

“About two-thirds of Florida homes have lost power, though I’m one of the lucky ones, only my television isn’t working now. I’ve been out clearing up for hours since it let up about midday on Monday, but the clear-up state-wide is going to be a massive operation. The devastation is incredible, with homes wrecked and widespread flooding.

“There’s loads of trees down in my street, but thankfully my house didn’t take a direct hit. All our homes are built to hurricane spec, so they’ve mostly escaped damage here.

“But Naples on the west coast where I and my sister go on holiday looks wiped out.”

Jim, a two-time world medal GB rower, who learnt to row on the River Wye under his dad John, added: “I was hoping to go and see the GB team race at the world championships in two weeks’ time nearby in Sarasota, but I reckon the infrastructure at the course will have taken a massive hit.”

The father-of-one’s 11-year-old son Ned sat out the hurricane nearby at his mother’s house and came through in good spirits, added Jim.

“Seeing the rest of the state, I reckon we’ve escaped quite lightly,” he said. “My only fear is that there might be another hurricane coming through in the next few days.”