‘Abandoned’couple feared for their lives as devastating storm tore through Cuba
A Stirling couple thought they were going to die after becoming stranded in Cuba during Hurricane Irma.
Reece Lee and girlfriend Sophie Bechelli, both 20, had been on a two-week break in Varadero on the Caribbean island but claim the travel company who arranged the holiday “abandoned” them when the devastating storm hit the island.
The pair were due to fly home on Friday September 8 from Varadero to Manchester but say operators Thomas Cook cancelled the flight, leaving
them on the island as the Category 5 hurricane made landfall.
Hurricane Irma passed over Cuba, bringing winds of up to 160 miles per hour and leaving many areas, including Havana, devastated and without power. It was another five days before they were finally able to board a plane and return home once the airport re-opened.
Whilst on the island, they were forced to “hunker down” and wait out the storm as it destroyed much of the hotel in which they were staying.
University student Reece said: “I never got any sleep for 48 hours. The door on our balcony even came off of its hinges and there was a hole in the ceiling.
“If the flight had left on the Friday as it was supposed to, then we would have missed the hurricane all together. But the flight was cancelled and we don’t know why; we were never told.
“The hotel was wrecked and for 24 hours I thought I was going to die.”
The hotel they were staying at suffered severe damage, including the roof being partially blown off, broken windows and doors, and the poolside bar was blown away.
Reece and Sophie were forced to leave their own room and share a room with a family from Manchester until the storm had subsided, and Recce says that they felt “abandoned” by the travel firm.
He added: “We couldn’t find out anything from Thomas Cook at all. We were just left there; it was a nightmare.”
When they were finally told to make their way to the airport on the September 12 they then faced delays of five hours just to get through check-in as thousands of Brits tried to return home.
They finally landed back in the UK the following day.
A Thomas Cook spokesperson said: “We mobilised a 66-strong special assistance team to provide on-the-ground support for our customers on holiday across Cuba and Orlando.
“Those due to travel to Cuba were offered free cancellations and amendments. Due to the scale of the damage, communication during and after the hurricane was challenging. We kept in touch with our customers as much as possible, informing them of updates to their travel plans through our reps in resort, as well as by SMS or email.
“We are hugely grateful to our customers for their patience and would like to reassure them that they will be contacted by our customer relations team within seven days of their arrival back to the UK to discuss refunds, incidental costs, or losses that may have been incurred.”