Tourists told of their terror as they fled a hurricane's wrath before cramming into a dismal makeshift shelter in a Mexican brothel.

One woman survived on only bread and water for days despite being struck down with a debilitating illness.

Others screamed as winds of more than 125mph rushed over the rooftops as Hurricane Wilma pounded Mexico, Cuba and Florida.

Tori Parr and her partner Sam Semple told of their holiday from hell after returning to their home in Hove and to a tearful reunion with their families.

The couple were forced to flee Cancun in Mexico as the force-five hurricane battered the American tropics.

Another Sussex tourist who fled the luxury resort, cycle shop manager Chris Cina, returned to his home in Lindfield, near Haywards Heath, after fearing for his life.

They were among hundreds who quit their hotels in the popular holiday spot and fled to safety, only to find themselves stuck in awful conditions with little food or water.

Ms Parr, 29, and Ms Semple, 34, of Sackville Road, Hove, had to get by on nothing but bread, dirty water and sometimes a little rice for six days.

Ms Parr's ordeal was made worse when she was struck down with severe dysentery after the hotel they were staying in at the Mexican resort was evacuated.

She became weak with sickness but she was forced to sleep with other evacuees as they crammed into a motel that doubled as a brothel.

The couple described how they could hear the screams of terrified holidaymakers as the storm pounded the building.

They escaped the worst of the devastation but still feared for their safety as the hurricane passed overhead.

Ms Parr's illness also stopped her from taking the first available flight back to the UK after they escaped the path of the storm.

She said: "It was so awful. We had been there a week and we came back to the hotel one day to find everyone was frantic and crying and packing their bags.

"We heard the hurricane was on its way and it was going to be category five.

"There was a note under our door telling us we would have to evacuate for 24 hours.

"We were told to pack an overnight bag and the next morning a coach took us to this motel, which was apparently a brothel, in the middle of nowhere.

"The storm came that night and Sam and I thought we weren't going to live through it.

"You could hear people screaming and we thought the roof was going to come off. There was water shooting in from all the windows.

"We were sharing a room with two women and we gave them the beds because they were older and one had had a hip replacement.

"We had to tear the curtains down to put round us to stop us getting wet sleeping on the floor.

"In the end, we were there for five nights and six days - every day we thought we might be leaving.

"We didn't know what was happening. We only had enough stuff for one day so we had to keep washing it.

"There was no electricity or clean water and we were washing ourselves under the water that came off the roof - maybe that's how I got ill. The majority of people were sick and had diarrhoea.

"There was food but it was only basic rations and we didn't know when it was coming. When it did, it was only bread and water or maybe some rice.

"The army were at the hotels to stop looters and we didn't know if we were going to get our things back.

"In the end, we got a taxi to get our things - the area was like a bomb had hit it.

"In our room all the windows were smashed in, the bed was turned upside down. We had left the luggage in the bathroom and it was soaking wet.

"In the end, we were told we couldn't take our luggage on the plane anyway because of extra weight and there was only a short runway, so I don't know if we will get our bags back again."

The couple were expecting a five-hour journey to a smaller airport but were left stranded on the coach for another 24 hours as the airport had closed.

Police were called after brawls broke out with frustrated passengers on the seven coaches which had nowhere to go.

Ms Parr said: "In the end, we got a flight to the Dominican Republic and then home. I feel a bit spaced out now. I can't believe that really happened.

"Everyone was so upset and ill. No one ate or slept very well for days. Luckily we are fine now."

Her mother Sue Osborn, 51, of Mount Road, Newhaven, said: "I only managed to speak to Tori a couple of times but when it first happened she was very distraught. She said she was really frightened and didn't know what to do.

"She was very tearful and quite upset. She said they had been driving around for hours and the conditions were awful.

"They were sharing a room at one point with two elderly women so they gave up their beds for them and had to sleep on tiles on the floor.

"She said there were times when the Mexicans were annoyed that the tourists were getting priority treatment. It has been really traumatic for them both."

Mr Cina, 18, of Brook Way, Lindfield, was at the start of a two-week holiday with his girlfriend when the area was evacuated for seven days.

Mr Cina said: "We had only been on holiday for two days when we had to be evacuated. We were told it would be for eight hours, or 24 hours at the most.

"We weren't worried because everyone was really calm and thought it would be nothing.

"Then we heard it was going to be category five and we started to worry. In the end, we were evacuated to downtown Cancun for seven days.

"We didn't really know what was going on, the place we were in was really well boarded up and we weren't allowed outside for a couple of days. There was nothing to do, no electricity and no water. We had only brought enough things for one day.

"There was only one little generator which sometimes came on and gave a little bit of light.

"We could hear the storm and a lot of people were really scared, especially at night. You could see how much had been devastated when we left.

"Luckily we got our luggage back although not all of it.

"We had been so looking forward to that holiday."