Adelaide travel guru Sacha Bunnik explains terror as Hurricane Milton hit Disney World resort

Huddled in a bath and fearing for their lives, Sacha and Inger Bunnik’s dream trip to Disney World turned to a nightmare as the hurricane of the century hit.

Adelaide travel guru Sacha Bunnik has been to every corner of the globe – but nothing could prepare him or his wife for the abject terror of enduring storm of the century, Hurricane Milton.

At least 11 people have died after the monster hurricane swept through Florida, leaving three million people without power.

As the storm hit, Mr Bunnik and his wife Inger, who were at Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida, celebrating each other’s 50th birthdays, huddled in fear inside their hotel bath for hours.

Around them the walls shook, hurricane-proof windows arced menacingly and the sustained winds of just under 200km/h unleashed a deafening roar as up to 45cm of rain deluged them.

The couple had sent their three children aged 18-25 to the airport in the days before the storm so they could escape to Los Angeles, where they were last night as they awaited flights home.

Bunnik Tours CEO Sacha Bunnik and his wife Inger were caught in the centre of deadly Hurricane Milton. Picture: Supplied

Mr Bunnik recreates his hiding place after the hurricane. Picture: Supplied

In their darkest moments, the couple told each other how relieved they were that their children had escaped their terror.

To communicate was an effort and required them to yell to be heard over the howling wind and thunderous rain.

“We had a direct hit … as the night went on it got scarier and scarier,” said Mr Bunnik, who is joint CEO of Bunnik Travel Group.

“It was terrifying, we had to scream to each other just to be able to be heard for two hours while we were in the heart of the storm.

“We flew the kids out on Tuesday night, they were on the third last flight before they shut the airport. We were saying ‘Thank God we got them out.’

“We are just very, very thankful. You don’t want your kids to have issues.”

At first, he and Ms Bunnik retreated to the farthest bedroom from where trees at the front of their holiday apartment threatened to crash through walls and windows.

The devastation at Disney World after Hurricane Milton. Picture: Supplied

In a surreal sight, at about 11pm, the trees began to “bend almost in half,” Mr Bunnik said.

In the early hours of the morning, their fears were mounting and they both traded the bedroom to huddle together in the bath to ride out the worst of the storm from 1am to 3am.

He compared huddling in the bath as the hurricane raged to like being in a movie, such was the surreal atmosphere in their hiding place.

“It was terrible, it felt like the window was going to explode in – they are hurricane proof so the whole place was shaking,” he said.

While the couple knew the resort was hurricane proof, they did worry their position on the top of two accommodation floors would leave them vulnerable.

“We were more concerned about trees smashing through the windows,” he said.

He said logically he knew the resort was structurally sound, but it was hard to focus on that.

“All rationale goes out of your brain, (you’re thinking) what could happen, could the roof come off,” he said.

“The news is full of horror stories, it does go through your head.”

Hurricane Milton exploded in strength to become a potentially catastrophic Category 5 storm bound for Florida. Picture: AFP

Major storms have been following the Bunniks.

Their time in New England exploring Nantucket and Cape Cod was hit with rain from former Hurricane Debby, which unleashed catastrophic flooding on the US east coast.

Mr Bunnik has travelled to 110 countries and has chalked up a terrifying experience for his YouTube channel Sacha Bunnik Global Adventures.

“We are feeling incredibly thankful that we are fine and our thoughts are with those Floridians who have sustained damage and are without power,” he said.

Originally published as Adelaide travel guru Sacha Bunnik explains terror as Hurricane Milton hit Disney World resort