Former Central Valley man caught in the middle of Hurricane Matthew

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- As powerful winds and rain rolled in thousands of people fearing the wrath of hurricane Matthew rolled out. Jared Allen, a former Fresno area resident, was one of them.

Allen took video on his cell phone of the intensity of the storm forcing him to leave his West Palm Beach apartment because of a mandatory evacuation.

"Right before I hit record on that video a piece of this palm tree right next to me flew across and I was just like, 'I will just stay right here.'"

A hurricane of this magnitude is Allen's first. He moved to Florida from California about a year and a half ago. But despite not being a local, he was prepared.

Allen said after learning of the storm, he stocked up on water and groceries. Something many people have done leaving grocery stores looking scarce with little food on shelves.

"It's exactly what you see in the movies, I really didn't think that it would be but it absolutely is."

Allen drove 20 miles north to stay with his mom in a city called Jupiter. He put up metal shutters outside of their windows to protect from the more than 100 miles per hour winds from breaking windows and sending debris into their home.

"It's the classic kind of tropical looking storm. The trees are leaning pretty far over and the pieces off the palm trees are flying off, the door is whistling."

Sounds and sights that have Allen thinking one thing.

"I was just in Fresno and I should have stayed."

Allen said the power went out a little bit after 6:00 p.m., shortly after we did the interview with him.

So far, more than 50,000 people in Florida are without power.