A NORTH woman holidaying in Florida spoke yesterday of the devastation left in the wake of Hurricane Charley.

Eileen Smith, her husband Andrew, and daughter Claire, who live in Catterick Village, North Yorkshire, are on holiday in Orlando.

When the hurricane struck over the weekend, they followed advice to stay away from windows in their rented villa in case the glass broke.

They sat in the middle of the floor and surrounded themselves with cushions during the height of the storm, which lasted about an hour on Saturday night.

She said: "It was scary. We did not know what was going to happen.

"The noise of the wind, ripping sounds and things banging around outside made it quite frightening.

"But we were lucky. There was very little damage round where we are staying, but you go a block further down and there is absolute devastation.

"There was no power the day after and our phone has only just come back on today.

"The emergency services have been amazing. The police are out at all hours directing traffic because the traffic lights are not working, and some of the fire stations have suffered damage, but they are still out working.

"I do not know how some holidaymakers have coped because a lot rely on eating in diners and such places, but they were all shut.

"There are trees through roofs, trees uprooted in our garden, debris everywhere, road signs wrapped round themselves, lots of damage.

"It is almost surreal, like a film set. But it is real and it is devastating for people here."

The hurricane was the worst the US has suffered in 12 years. Sixteen people died and £6bn of damage was caused.