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Northamptonshire couple tell of Hurricane Ike nightmare
A couple from Rothwell who were holidaying in Cuba had to barricade themselves in their hotel room after Hurricane Ike swept through the island.
Jo and Andy Carpenter spent hours sitting in the bathroom of their accommodation and even slept on a mattress on the bathroom floor after the hurricane hit the resort of Guardalavaca, where they were staying.
The couple, of Castle Hill, went abroad on September 1 for a two-week break to celebrate their third wedding anniversary, but returned early after the hurricane struck.
Mrs Carpenter, a former Evening Telegraph reporter, said: "We were barricaded in and we thought the safest place in the room was the bathroom, it was very small and had a small window.
"The hurricane sounded like a severe tropical storm and it got steadily worse until the eye hit at 11pm.
"It's unimaginable, you can't explain it, it was frightening. It was so unpredictable. All we could do was barricade ourselves in and wait for it to pass."
Jo, 33, and Andy, 49, were locked in their hotel room for around 12 hours, going back outside at 7am the next day to find the storm had left behind total devastation.
Mrs Carpenter said: "When we ventured outside it looked like a war zone, it was a scene of utter devastation – palm trees and roofs were ripped off, restaurants were flattened."
Holiday firm First Choice arranged emergency flights to get the holidaymakers back to the UK and the Carpenters arrived back at Gatwick airport at 8am on Thursday.
They have now returned home.
Mrs Carpenter said she had never been so relieved to arrive back in England.
It has been reported that four people died in Cuba as a result of the hurricane, which brought with it winds of up to 170mph.
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Weather for Kettering
Sunday 27 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 25 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: North west
