A regional newspaper editor has told how she was marooned in a Florida hotel bedroom as she was caught up in hurricane Wilma.

Cambrian News editor Bev Davies and her partner Keith Thomas are currently on a two-week holiday in the USA and flew into Orlando on Sunday after five nights in New York.

Just hours after they arrived in the resort of Cocoa Beach on the east coast of Florida, hurricane Wilma started to blast its way across the southern tip of Florida.

And as winds of up to 120 miles an hour lashed against the Hilton hotel where they were staying, Bev e-mailed a report through to the Cambrian News from their bedroom.

She said: "When we arrived here we had a fantastic view of the coastline from our seventh floor hotel bedroom. Now we can hardly see anything as the torrential rain and high-speed winds batter the hotel.

"It's a category three hurricane and the eye of the storm has just hit just south of us. The power keeps going off. There are buckets all over the hotel, catching leaking water, and pieces of the roof are flying past our window.

"It was a bit scary a few minutes ago, when an automated voice blasted into the hotel room, telling us it was a state of emergency and we had to leave the hotel immediately.

"Thankfully, it was a false alarm, activated because the power had gone off.

"Everyone is just sitting tight in their rooms, watching the American news channels to see how the hurricane is progressing."

Thousands of residents in resorts in the south were ordered to move into shelters but the resort of Cocoa Beach escaped the evacuation order.

Bev added: "It is a bit worrying that a lot of guests seem to be checking out, but we Welsh are made of sterner stuff!

"We have been told not to go outside unless it is really essential. But you wouldn't want to venture out.

"Branches are breaking off trees and flying past. And people are finding it hard to stand upright, the winds and rain are so rough."

When Bev and Keith booked their American trip, they had originally considered going to Miami, but instead plumped for Cocoa Beach because it was closer to the airport.

Bev said: "If we had gone to Miami, we'd have been sitting in a shelter now. Down south, trees have been uprooted, there has been huge damage from the wind, and flooding is causing chaos.

"We are a bit better off here and, hey, if you are going to be stuck in a hotel room for 24 hours, where better than the Hilton!"