A SWINDON man caught up in a terrifying hurricane said his wife thought they were about to say their final goodbyes to each other.

Dietmar Lichota, 61, has lived in Tortola – the largest of the British Virgin Islands – for 30 years with his wife Christianne Peçanha and their 14-year-old son Anton.

But they found themselves having to flee their home and friends last week after Hurricanes Irma and Maria ravaged British overseas territories.

The category five storm Maria, with winds recorded at more than 160mph, pulled roofs off homes and send enormous boats flying as it made its way through Tortola just days after Irma tore through the island.

Dietmar and his family watched in horror as the huge glass doors in their living room were ripped from their hinges by the ferocious winds and went flying through the air.

Up to their ankles in water, they saw their home was destroyed in front of them.

“The whole roof of our house ripped off," he said.

“We had a big sliding glass door and it flew across the living room.

“We were up to our ankles in water.

“My wife thought she was saying goodbye to us.

“We are still in shock."

His friend’s fleet of 70 boats was reduced to just six, with many piled up on top of each other during the storm.

Another friend’s 400-pound granite worktop was wrenched out by the winds and blown into the front garden.

Dietmar's Brazilian wife Christianne, 51, set up her own frozen meal shop called ‘Ms Penguin’ on the island in 1996.

She cooked dishes including lasagna, shepherd’s pie, quiches and a variety of deserts to sell to locals.

But all her efforts were destroyed by the storm.

“There was total chaos and mess inside her kitchen," said Dietmar.

“Pretty much everything is lost except a few cooking pots.

“Thousands of dollars’ worth of food is gone – all that effort.

“There were three or four other businesses next to ours and bits from other businesses landed in others.

“It has been decimated."

Dietmar thinks people living in Tortola never thought the destruction seen elsewhere would affect them so severely.

“I think the whole island got a bit complacent about hurricanes," he said.

“People would always say they were going north.

“We didn’t prepare as well as we possibly could have.

“Fourteen other houses around ours had all lost their roofs and the majority of doors and windows were gone.

“We have to prepare for the worst – but there was no way to prepare for a hurricane of this size.”

He added: “The situation in Tortola is a bit complicated.

“More than half of the work force are not from there and are there with work permits.

“Tourism is all but dead and a lot are going to be laid off.

“Now we have thousands of people without work and without much of a shelter to go to.

“What are all those people going to do?”

He said about 90% of the electrical lines were down and though food and water wasn’t exactly scarce, getting to the supermarket was very difficult.

“It normally takes 10 minutes to drive there but it took an hour when we went,” he said.

“It was a long process and we were standing in line for an hour.

“My friend said he queued for four hours to get petrol for his car."

Dietmar and his family finally flew home on Friday last week.

“We reluctantly realised that there wasn’t much of a reason to stay in Tortola in the near future," he said.

They got to the airport in Tortola at about 7am on Wednesday to get to the front of the queue as hordes of people struggled to leave the island.

“It was just craziness at the airport,” he said.

“Flights were very limited.”

They managed to board a flight to Antigua at 11.30am then took a direct flight to Gatwick Airport.

Dietmar, whose friend is watching over his wrecked house in Tortola, is now living with his family at his 82-year-old mother’s house in Walcot.

He is dedicating all his energy into finding his son a new school so he can continue his International Baccalaureate studies which were interrupted when they fled the island.

“Even if the business in Tortola hadn’t been destroyed the business side of it would have been.

“The place is pretty uninhabitable.

“Some people have stayed but at least I had the choice and wherewithal to leave.

“Swindon hasn’t been my home in 30 years but I was here in August on vacation.”

Dietmar is also looking forward to visiting his daughter who lives with her family in Cumbria.

Despite the horrors he and his family have witnessed, he hasn't lost his sense of humour.

He has been using Swindon's library to get on the internet because his mother doesn't have a web connection in her house.

“She has refused point blank to join the 21st century!” he joked.