Hartlepool expat and family hunkered down for two days as Florida lashed by devastating Hurricane Ian

Businessman and physio Paul Gough now lives with his young family in Orlando, Florida, where Hurricane Ian caused widespread destruction last week leaving dozens of people dead.

He and his family were forced to stay indoors for two days as torrential rain and gale force winds lashed the area.

Hurricane Ian was one of the strongest in American history with flooding, homes destroyed and more than 80 deaths.

Luckily Paul, 41, and his family escaped much of the worst damage seen in other parts of Florida although a golf course behind his house was partially flooded.

But just miles from where he lives there was widespread flooding.

Many residents moved inland to Orlando where they are being provided with temporary shelter.

Paul, who writes a regular Feeling Great column in the Mail, said: “Where I am wasn’t too bad, but 10 miles other way was flooded.

“The winds were bad and we had non stop rain for two days, but in coastal areas some are wiped out completely.

“Most people from the coast came to Orlando for shelter. My boys’ school has been shut for a week as people are living there temporarily.”

Hurricane Ian struck Florida as a monstrous Category 4 storm, with 150mph winds.

Even after weakening, Ian’s tropical-storm-force winds still reached 415 miles from its centre.

Thousands of people in the Florida remained unaccounted for several days after the hurricane hit.

The American Red Cross sent more than 1,000 disaster workers to provide shelter and food for the homeless.

In the Orlando area firefighters used boats to reach people in a flooded neighbourhood.

Paul, who owns the Paul Gough Physio Rooms, property agency and media companies in Hartlepool and across the North East, has lived in Florida for around two years as his business empire expanded.

He is married to Natalie and they have three children; Harry, eight, Tobias, six, and Grayson aged three.

He previously talked about life in the US amid political unrest the Covid pandemic.

But he regularly returns to his home town and has twice brought friends from America to Hartlepool with positive reactions on both occasions.