Man trapped during Hurricane Irma tweets of 'apocalyptic' scene

A man from London on a trip to the Caribbean Island of St Maarten tweeted of the ‘apocalyptic’ scene as the winds hit buildings and forced him to take shelter in a concrete stairwell, The Telegraph reported.

Alex Woolfall tweeted that he was scared as the building started shaking. Things escalated quickly and the building lost power as he was forced to take cover. He described hearing battering, sonic boom-type noises as the winds lashed structures on the island.



Woolfall, who works in PR, said: "Now in #StMaarten and building shaking and howling winds. Scary stuff but still have power".

https://twitter.com/woolfallalex/status/905367056501149698

An hour later he wrote: "Evacuated and everyone now hiding in concrete stairwell of building. Noise of wind insane. Pray this will end soon!" The terrified man then asked his followers to pray for him as Irma hit.

Winds at ~80mph #IrmaHurricane getting ready for the eye of the storm #StMaarten pic.twitter.com/qMXoXhV83l

— eze (@eze_would) September 6, 2017

Although wind and rain howled, he said that the eye of the storm was ‘boiling’. He tweeted: "So what they don't tell you in a hurricane is how HOT it is! Jeez. Am boiling!" As the island lost power, Woolfall said he may be composing his last tweets of the hurricane until he could get to a charged phone.

He wrote: "May be my last tweet as power out and noise now apocalyptic. This is like a movie I never want to see.” “My God this noise! It's like standing behind a jet engine! Constant booms and bangs. At least concrete stairwell not moving.” “Still thunderous sonic boom noises outside and boiling in stairwell. Can feel scream of things being hurled against building.”

Other Britons have also been stranded on the stricken islands. Newlyweds Paul and Lorraine Phipps were celebrating their two-week honeymoon in the Bahamas as forecasters raised Irma’s classification. Phipps, from Essex, told the Telgraph: "With the Bahamas being laid back there is no panic on the resort, the resort management team are meeting daily to discuss contingencies and will communicate once decisions have been made.”

Thank you @British_Airways for sending out a relief plane before #Irma hits Antigua. Another few hours and the airport could be underwater pic.twitter.com/fVAbZLJ3q6

— Robert Midgley (@RobertMidgley07) September 5, 2017

"During the hurricane we will either be moved to a building away from the beach front or moved to a centre downtown." Sir Richard Branson has also refused to leave his private Necker island. Writing in a blog, Branson said the eye of the storm was "heading straight for Necker".



He added: "On Necker Island we have constructed really strong buildings (with hurricane blinds) that should be able to handle extreme weather pretty well, though with a Category 5 hurricane almost nothing can withstand it."

The one time I decide to take a vacation on the carribean islands... #HurricaineIrma coming right at me #StMaarten pic.twitter.com/VQCocEl02o

— eze (@eze_would) September 5, 2017

"We had some lovely guests staying on Necker Island who have cut their trip short for safety reasons, and another group of guests have also postponed. I will be on Necker alongside our team, as I have been on the three times we have had hurricanes over the past 30 years."