Business owner woke up to find 'beach huts floating away'

A business owner who woke up to her beach huts being taken out by the tide amid Storm Boelo has said it was a "miracle" they stayed in one piece.

Kathryn Hodgson has run her business Port Erin Beach Huts on the Isle of Man for about five years, but said the conditions on Saturday evening and in the early hours of Sunday had been "unusual".

She said: "I have been hit by storms before, and I do get some damage but it was like the perfect storm, but obviously not for me, or for the huts."

Due to the south westerly wind direction, gusts of up to 70mph (113km/h) and the high tide, she knew the huts were going to be impacted.

Amber weather warnings for severe gales and coastal overtopping were in place on Saturday evening and Sunday morning across the island.

In a rush on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, Kathryn, along with ten volunteers, managed to pack away five of the nine beach huts.

Moving three on Friday, and two on Saturday morning until the wind became too strong.

Kathryn said she had faced criticism questioning why all the huts had not already been moved.

"They don't realise I'm a small business, I'm not a joiner and I don't have a flatbed truck, and I did try," she said.

"It's a lot of money and a lot of costs to get them on and off and I do it every year," she added.

It was only when Kathryn received messages from the owner of a nearby sauna that she knew what had happened.

"When I woke up, I saw the messages - they were floating away. I didn't know what to do."

As she went to the beach on Sunday morning, she said: "I thought I had lost all four and that they'd all be broken up.

"I didn't think for one second they might all be in one piece, I came down at first light and was really surprised to see the two that sailed away in tact," adding it was "like a miracle".

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