A WARRINGTON man says it sounded like a train thundered past his house the night Hurricane Irma struck his town in Florida.

Dad-of-three Paul Irwin, 49, who used to live on Sutton Street in Howley and moved to the sunshine state in 2000 to join wife Marta, 47, was at his home in Apopka, 20 miles away from Orlando, on Saturday night when the mammoth storm approached.

At around 11pm, the former Sir Thomas Boteler CE High School pupil and his family were plunged into darkness when the property’s power went out and they were soon faced with a hurricane which has left a trail of devastation behind in the Caribbean and Florida.

Warrington Wolves fan Paul, who works as a branch manager for a plumbing supply company, said: “My two daughters and I were watching the news on TV when the power flickered out.

“Just after that it sounded like a train passed by outside. It was that loud.

“There had been tornado warnings issued so we had made sure all the blinds were closed and we stayed in the middle of the house while the storm went by.

“My daughters were extremely nervous at the time.

“On Sunday morning it was like a ghost town with high winds still gusting around.”

Paul’s house, which has a modern structure and is built to withstand a category two hurricane, suffered no damage.

It is also situated on a hill with no danger of it being flooded.

But like millions of other properties in Florida it is still without power.

Paul added: “The house is like a sauna at the moment and the temperature has reached over 90 degrees in the day so air-conditioning is much needed.

“We have been told it could be five to seven days before we get power back because so many people do not have it but I am hoping it is sooner.

“I have to leave the house for work at 5.30am every day and it is not fun getting ready with just a torch for a light and a cold shower.

“The storms are part of life over here but a lot of people can still be complacent and not prepare for a hurricane properly.

“This time we had advance warnings and petrol ran out at most stations with water and other essentials selling out at stores too.”

Paul returned to work on Tuesday for the first time since locking up the work building on Thursday afternoon with the monster storm on the horizon.

He also said he still has no phone signal by his house and has to drive four miles to get one.

Paul managed to film the footage below of the hurricane. 

(Apologies for the poor sound quality.)