Honeymoon couple forced into lockdown by hurricane
A HONEYMOONING couple were forced into lockdown at their Disney resort by Hurricane Irma.
Kerry Martin, 33, husband Andrew, 31, and their 18-month-old son Alex were told they couldn’t leave their room on Sunday night after the Orlando resort went into lockdown.
“From 7pm on Sunday we were on a curfew and they locked all the doors,” Kerry said.
“That was when it got a bit real. People have been arrested for going out.”
The family are spending what should have been a threeweek dream holiday in Florida and the Caribbean after the couple married in May.
Kerry said the trip was supposed to be “extra special” but will now be memorable for other reasons.
“We arrived out here on September 1 and on September 2 we were going on a sevenday Caribbean cruise,” she said.
“But we got on the cruise and they had changed the itinerary because of the storm. We got a day in Jamaica but they cut the cruise two days short.”
The pair were then forced to find alternative accommodation for the extra two days and “luckily” got a room in Walt Disney World, where they are staying for two weeks.
Kerry, who works at Gap Hire Solutions in Glasgow, said they got to the resort on Saturday and went to the supermarket to stock up for their self-catering break.
“The supermarket was closing at 3pm and it was a bit of a mad rush,” she added. “All the water was gone. We’ve been okay though.”
People staying at the resort have been allowed out but all the parks are closed, Kerry said.
Then, on Sunday night, the 7pm curfew was brought in and people had to stay indoors.
“They made a pop-up shop in one of the rooms,” she said.
“We’re not allowed to go anywhere during the curfew.
“Before the curfew we were allowed in the resort.
“We haven’t got a car. We’re using the Disney transporta- tion and that’s off. All the parks are closed.”
Thankfully, the resort still has power – although the TV signal has been dropping off – and the couple are not aware of any flooding, other than in one of the car parks.
They are desperate for things to get back to normal and Kerry, from Paisley, said coping with a teething 18-month-old who couldn’t go anywhere was “challenging”.
“We’re just waiting for normality to resume,” she said.
“But we are all safe and that’s the main thing. I’m starting to feel disappointed because this is our honeymoon. We will look back and laugh but it’s difficult.”
Walt Disney World and neighbouring attractions Universal Orlando and SeaWorld Orlando are on track to reopen today.
Disney resort hotels remained open during Irma, but the parks were closed on Sunday and yesterday.
“We hope to resume normal operations on Tuesday, September 12,” a statement from Disney said.
The centre of the storm passed west of Orlando early yesterday.
HURRICANE Irma has weakened into a still-dangerous tropical storm as it pushed inland, triggering record flooding in Florida’s north-eastern corner.
The storm engulfed nearly the entire Florida peninsula, wreaking havoc from the state’s southernmost point up to the Georgia line, from the Atlantic coast to the Gulf side.
It swamped homes, uprooted massive trees, flooded streets, cast boats ashore, snapped miles of power lines and toppled construction cranes.
More than 6.2 million homes and businesses remained without power, and 220,000 people huddled in shelters.
No deaths in Florida were immediately linked to the storm.