Kiwi in Florida: 'It's barrelling straight toward us'

Anna Wilding moved to Florida about three days ago. Photo / Supplied

A Kiwi living directly in the path of monster Hurricane Irma only moved to Florida three days ago.Anna Wilding, a Cantabrian who spent two years in the White House as an independent correspondent, and her husband live on Palm Beach, an hour north of Miami. The exclusive enclave is in the path of the storm's eye.

They moved to Florida just three days ago from Washington DC and have only just finished unpacking; now they have to board up their house and gather supplies as the storm approaches.

Supermarkets all have long queues as people rush to stock up on food. Wooden boards and water had sold out by Tuesday; Wilding drove to the supermarket at first light on Wednesday as more water supplies were trucked in.

"The entire state of South Florida, Florida Keys, Miami, Palm Beach is under emergency orders. Be prepared to shelter in place or evacuate," Wilding said.

"That's us. At present we are going to be right in the middle of it in Palm Beach. We are right on the coast, one block from the beach. We are boarding our house today and tomorrow.

"Wooden boards already sold out, but managed to get some."

Widing and her husband considered leaving Florida as the storm approached. About 200,000 people with special needs are being evacuated from Miami, and the freeways have been blocked to allow them to get out, she said.

"The whole problem with the Florida region is there's nowhere to go," Wilding said.

"We've found out where our local shelters are so we'll probably have to go to those."

The ocean, just one block away, was perfectly still on Wednesday.

"It's the calm before the storm," Wilding said.

"It's so weird, it's a beautiful 30-degree calm day. They've just said the eye of the storm has moved a little east now and it's barrelling straight toward us. Now it's a matter of whether the eye will be over Palm Beach or over Miami."

Wilding was in the US for Hurricane Sandy and lost power for seven days. That storm was only a Category 2. Irma is due to arrive on Friday as a Category 5. .

"One can only imagine what this will be like," she said.

More than 100 New Zealanders are in the firing line of the monstrous Hurricane Irma, authorities say.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said 110 Kiwis are known to be in the path of the Category 5 storm - the biggest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic.

"New Zealanders currently in the path of Hurricane Irma are advised to follow any instructions issued by the local authorities, including any evacuation orders, keep their family in New Zealand informed of their well-being and contact their airline or travel agent directly if their travel has been disrupted," an MFAT spokesman said.

The 110 New Zealanders are those that have registered with the Government's SafeTravel website, he said.