Rally man's dash after hurricane

Mr Curphy was trapped in Cancun for five days

An Isle of Man rally driver has spoken of his trauma at getting caught up in Hurricane Wilma.

Paul Curphy was in holiday in Cancun when the storm struck the region - about a week before he was due to take part in the Kingsmead Rally.

After sheltering for five days in a school he faced a frantic dash to make it back home for the event.

And despite taking part in the white knuckle sport of rallying, Mr Curphy said he had been scared by the storm.

Roof off

Mr Curphy's journey back to the island for the rally involved an 11-hour bus journey to get out of Cancun, a 24-hour bus ride to Mexico city, then aeroplanes back home via Paris and Manchester.

Describing his hurricane ordeal, Mr Curphy said: "We had 14 hours of winds up to 175mph.

"The roof basically came off and the walls were moving then we got the eye - which was basically eight or nine hours of really bad Manx storms - and then it starts again for another 12 or 14 hours.

"After it was finished everywhere was completely flattened and it was quite traumatic. I admit I was scared," he added.