Hurricane Michael: Eerie footage from the eye of the storm

When he looked directly above him, all Stefan Melendez saw was blue sky and sunshine.

But when he cast his eyes downwards, walls of dark clouds were looming in every direction.

That was the bizarre reality of standing in the eye of Hurricane Michael.

Melendez stepped outside during a few minutes of calm as the hurricane cut its path through Florida.

He posted the eerie footage online in a Facebook Live, which attracted nearly one million views in less than a day.

The vision provided a rare insight into the bizarre natural phenomenon, which Redditor mah0ne compared to being on the ground of a stadium of storm clouds.

“I’ve honestly never seen a video like this on YouTube, or anywhere for that matter,” Melendez said.

The vision has since been shared more than 16,000 times across Facebook as residents come to grips with the destruction left after the storm passed.

At least six people were killed, while a further 285 were reported missing.

With winds of up to 250km/h, the storm has been ranked as one of the most powerful hurricane to hit the continental US in nearly 50 years.

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Melendez, who followed Hurricane Michael as a storm chaser, has since checked in on Facebook to tell followers that he was say.

“I’m done chasing hurricanes after going through this one,” he said.

“We were never in danger but some of the other chasers were.

“[It was a] real eye-opening and life-changing experience.”