71868-24A COUPLE who were caught up in Hurricane Charley when they went to Florida to get married are home safe and well.

Jo Sears, 37, and her then fiance Andy, 39, of Highworth, were forced to abandon their ceremony on the beach at Clearwater when it was lashed by the tail end of tropical storm Bonnie.

They managed to hastily complete the marriage rites under a wooden gazebo, but had to evacuate the hotel early the next morning because it was in the path of the hurricane.

Then the hurricane changed direction and followed them inland to their holiday villa close to Haines City.

It passed overhead as they huddled together praying that the house would stand up to the force of the storm which virtually flattened Haines.

"It was really frightening," said Mrs Sears, 37. "We thought we would be sitting watching the news reports on television. It never occurred to us that it would follow us inland."

But when the wedding party, which included the couple's children Mark, 14, and Chloe, five, as well as Jo's mum Monica and dad John, arrived at the "safe" house in Haines they were told what lay in store.

"We were told to go into the bathroom, which was the strongest point, wrap ourselves in blankets and put mattresses over our heads in case anything happened," said Mrs Sears.

"There were things hitting the side of the house from other buildings. It was taking the full force of the storm.

"People in the villa next door could see things being ripped off our house."

She added that the roar of the wind was immense and terrifying, but they tried not to panic.

"We had to keep as calm as we could for the sake of the children," she said. "Chloe didn't really understand how dangerous the situation was and we wanted to keep it that way."

Big brother Mark played a vital role in helping to keep her calm. "He was very brave. He was really good with her and cuddled her," said Mrs Sears.

At one point the family thought it was snowing as white insulation was ripped from under the eaves and got caught in the fly screen over the windows.

Rainwater gushed through the front door and even came in under the windowsills.

When they emerged they discovered the trail of destruction Charley had left behind.

Trees had been uprooted, telegraph poles broken, roofs torn off, advertising hoardings smashed and lorries turned over.

Thirteen people are believed to have lost their lives in the storms and thousands lost their homes.

Mrs Sears said: "We do consider ourselves to be very, very lucky when we look at what happened to other people and their property."

Tina Clarke