A WORCESTER woman caught up in Hurricane Irma says she is relieved to now be safe having escaped from the huge storm.

Ruby Field, 25, lives and works as a lifeguard on the Disney owned island Castaway Cay, in the Bahamas, which is a stop off for guests on Disney Cruise Line cruises.

But last week the former Worcester Operatic and Dramatic Society Youth Section member and Bishop Perowne pupil suddenly saw the paradise island turn into a nightmare.

Miss Field, who is on her sixth contract with Disney, said: "We started tracking the hurricane as of the end of last week, (September 2).

"At that time there's not a lot we could do but just wait to see where Irma was going to go.

"Last Monday, we found out that the Disney Dream planned to come a day earlier, and would be docking at Castaway with guests on the 5th instead of on the 6th - just so it gave the island an opportunity to start hurricane preparations a few days earlier.

"On Tuesday night we were told that there could be a potential island evacuation and on Wednesday we had a meeting with the island manager who explained it would be optional evacuation.

"If we wanted to stay we could, as we have hurricane shelters on the island. Most people decided to leave however at this point in time I decided to stay and help pack down the island.

"The whole island team started prepping the island ready for the ship to pick them up.

"I had been in the water taking out the nets and got back to the shore, where we were informed that shoreside had changed their minds and it would be a whole island evacuation.

"We left the island at 4.30pm on Wednesday and sailed to Port Canaveral to debark all the guests, and then departed midday Thursday to sail away and avoid the hurricane at all risks."

Since leaving the island, the initial Category 5 storm, which saw winds higher than 75mph, had torn through the Bahamas.

On Sunday, Miss Field said they were sailing away on the west of Cuba, away from the dangerous weather.

"We are all safe and now cruising on a ghost ship with no guests," she added.

This morning Hurricane Irma was blasting up the west coast of Florida after hitting Miami, causing dangerous flooding along long stretches of coast.