A Newfoundlander living in Florida says his neighbourhood was literally in the eye of the hurricane as Milton passed through the state last night.

Ken Baldwin lives in an area known as Lakewood Ranch, which was not under any sort of evacuation order or flood warning.

Baldwin says they got to experience the calm in the eye of the hurricane.

He says they went from “really crazy winds” of about 120 km/h to everything going quiet. They could see the stars above, and were even able to take their dogs out for a bathroom break before the second half of the storm, which he says was worse for them than the first half.

Baldwin says the back half of the storm brought a lot of wind and noise, and as a result more stress and anxiety.

He describes some of the preliminary damage in his neighbourhood.

Baldwin says some street signs and trees were toppled, and his neighbour’s gutters were ripped off and thrown into his backyard.