Run for your lives
Irma sparks Scramble to Florida exodus get Britons out
THOUSANDS of terrified Britons were trying to flee Florida last night as 185mph Hurricane Irma was poised to ravage the state.
Freeways were gridlocked as people began an exodus northwards and many tourists said they had been left to fend for themselves as other nationalities were flown out earlier in the week.
UK operators scrambled flights to Florida yesterday, trying to rescue those left stranded ahead of today’s shutdown of Orlando International Airport.
Miami is expected to take a direct hit with officials saying Irma has the potential to cause £100billion of damage.
Elsewhere, around 40 British tourists in Cuba said they were forced to sleep in the foyer of a boarded-up hotel.
Sophie Collins, 22, was on a trip with friend Eleanor Reid, also 22, in the Dominican Republic. They said they were left alone and told to barricade themselves in their hotel bathroom.
Airlines changing timetables to try to beat the 5pm Orlando closure included British Airways, which rearranged some flights from the city to Gatwick but was forced to cancel all flights from Miami to Heathrow today and tomorrow.
Virgin Holidays laid on relief flights and a spokesman said anyone remaining had been moved to safety.
Thomas Cook said it had 5,700 customers in Florida and had evacuated those in the Florida Keys and Miami Beach resorts.
The company said it was bringing customers back to the UK from Orlando today on three flights landing at Manchester, Stansted and Gatwick. But all flights to Orlando from today until Monday were cancelled. And Tui, the parent company for Thomson and First Choice, has cancelled flights to and from Orlando until Tuesday.
The evacuations came as Irma’s death toll in the Caribbean hit 18. It included nine victims in French territories, one at British territory Anguilla, one on Barbuda, four on the US Virgin Islands and three in Puerto Rico.
Some battered areas are preparing for further carnage as a second hurricane, Jose, travels through the Atlantic – with Antigua and Barbuda at risk. Jose was yesterday upgraded to category four. The British Virgin Islands declared a state of emergency in the wake of Irma. Royal Navy engineers helped restore power to the only hospital on Anguilla, the Ministry of Defence said, as well as working to reinforce two shelter stations in preparation for Jose. One British man said lawlessness had broken out on devastated St Martin. Martyn Lucas, from St Columb, Cornwall, said locals armed with machetes were smashing into shops and apartments to find food and water. He said: “We’ve now got a breakdown in law and order. It is a very violent and dangerous place.” Meanwhile, two British women missing on Barbuda were found helping with relief efforts, a cousin said. Afiya Frank, 27, and sister Asha, 29, had not been heard from since Tuesday. Irma, now downgraded to category four, is expected to hit the Turks and Caicos Islands today before reaching Florida.