'My nightmare caught in eye of the storm' - Stafford woman caught up as hurricane wreaks havoc in USA

Those are the words of a Stafford woman who was caught up in the evacuation of Hurricane Matthew as the category five storm wreaked havoc along the east coast of America claiming hundreds of lives.

Retired Marje Hirst was looking forward to a relaxing Autumn vacation visiting her cousin Margaret Klinger and two friends Candice Caldwell and Kelli Kensil.

And for more than a fortnight the mother-of-two from Broadholes Lane, Wheaton Aston, was having the time of her life.

From September 15 she enjoyed a couple of weeks at her cousin's home in Fort Wayne, Indiana, before the quartet travelled to Charleston, South Carolina, on the east coast, before heading for Hilton Head Island on September 30 for the culmination of their holiday.

But by that time Hurricane Matthew had been swirling menacingly through the Atlantic for around 48 hours.

Mrs Hirst said: "We were on Hilton Head having a nice time then we kept hearing about this hurricane that was coming towards us, but we thought we will be alright. We'll sit it out. We're on the second floor of a condo, we'll stay where we are. Nobody else seems to be moving. All these cars are still there."

But day by day the cyclone raged on and by October 5 the island was subject to a mandatory evacuation and everyone was told to get 100 miles from the coast.

"You just think where are we going? Where are we going to end up? Because we hadn't a clue where to go," Mrs Hirst added.

They set off in their car along the interstate highways ringing hotels but they had to travel 206 miles before they finally found somewhere with vacancies in Macon, Georgia.

The next day they set out back towards the coast having secured a reservation at the Baymont Inn and Suites Savannah Midtown but a few miles down the road amid bumper to bumper traffic they were told the road had been closed and Savannah and become the latest city to be evacuated.

It was only after popping into a nearby office block for advice that they found out about a number of rescue shelters in the Georgia city of Dublin.

The first was in the Dublin Civitan Club. They were allocated a bed and a blanket but after heading out to get further supplies the group were told the shelter was closing.

So led by a police convoy they set out for the next one at Dublin High School.

Mrs Hirst said: "It was a nice school, it had clean showers and toilets. But you walk in and you saw this enormous gymnasium which was supposed to take approximately 150 people.

"By the end of our stay we were told there had been 600 people through the doors."

They were moved again, this time to East Laurens High School, where the conditions were not so good.

"It was just a horrible school, really neglected," said Mrs Hirst. "It was freezing. We were in a big gymnasium and there were these big doors which were opening and closing all night.

"It was just so cold and the food was ridiculous. Luckily we were only there one night because the showers and toilets were dirty. None of us bothered having a shower."

On Monday October 10, the day the hurricane dissipated, they managed to get a flight out of Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport back to Fort Wayne, but while the chaos was over for them thousands of Americans are still living the nightmare.

It is estimated Hurricane Matthew claimed more than 1,400 lives causing widespread destruction, the worst of which took place in Haiti.

And while Mrs Hirst managed to keep the whirlwind at arms-length they saw first-hand the impact it had on people's lives.

She said: "We felt as if we were having a nightmare and we were going to wake up any minute. But we just thought how lucky we were that we did have homes to go back to.

"As we left the last shelter we were told it was closing. People all around us were saying they have no home to go to."

Mrs Hirst has been well-travelled particularly since her husband Bob, passed away 14 years ago of mesothelioma.

She added: "I have lived long enough to know that kind of thing happens and you just cope."