Bryce White is safe, sound and looking forward to playing some rugby after being caught up in the terrifying ordeal that was Hurricane Irma.

When the 26-year-old flew out to Cayo Santa Maria, a small island off Cuba’s northern coast, with his girlfriend Sophie Clarke at the end of August for a two-week break, he little imagined the mayhem that was about to engulf them.

While in many ways Bryce and Sophie were two of the lucky ones – around 70 have died in the devastating storm – theirs is a story that would encourage many to throw away their passports and holiday much closer to home.

Bryce told The Local Answer: “Yeah, it was pretty bad. The winds were 185mph with gusts of over 200mph.

“We thought that we were going to be evacuated off the island before the hurricane came but that didn’t happen.

“Where we were staying on the coast in the south of the island was expected to be the worst hit so they transported us up north to Varadero.

“That was on Thursday 7th September. There were about 13 buses and the journey should have taken about four hours but instead took seven. We had planned to get to Varadero and catch a plane home but by the time we got there it was too late to get to the airport.”

So, how were they feeling at the time?

“Pretty gutted, we’d booked an excursion to Havana that day… I’m still hoping to get my money back!” joked Bryce.

“I wasn’t scared but obviously it wasn’t great. My family had warned me there was a hurricane coming because they’d seen the news but you’re never prepared for anything like that.

“When we got to Varadero we got put in this room in a concrete block. There were eight of us in the room – we were with people we’d befriended in the first week of the holiday – and there must have been 25 blocks of 20 rooms each.

“We were pretty much stuck in there for 48 hours. There was this wonderful little Mexican lady who supplied us with sandwiches and water every five hours or so – she didn’t sleep for three days.

“Unfortunately the water ran out – by now we’d been in the room for 40 hours – so we broke out to collect coconuts that had fallen on the floor, then took them back to the room and smashed them on the floor and caught whatever water we could in glasses.

“It was tough but the people who had it far worse than us were all the Cubans who had to look after all the holiday-makers night and day during the hurricane with their families not knowing where they were.”

Bryce and Sophie returned to this country on Tuesday but even the flight home was not straightforward. “We had to fly to the Dominican Republic so a flight that should have taken seven hours took 12,” added Bryce, who is now looking forward to taking his frustration out on others when he gets back on the rugby field.

The one-time Old Patesians front row hasn’t played for three years after sustaining a serious back injury but will play in the back row this season.

Going from front to back in the pack is something that team-mate Chris Downes has successfully managed to do after sustaining a neck injury and Bryce added: “It’s just about managing the injury and knowing what you can and can’t do.

“I just want to get back playing rugby and run with a ball in my hand.”

And what about his next holiday? Any thoughts about where he might go?

“I’m not sure,” he laughed. “Anywhere that’s hurricane free.”

And what about Cuba? Would he go there again?

“Yes” he said, still laughing. “I’ve still got that excursion to Havana that I paid for. I might fly in, do the excursion and fly straight back out again!”