FRIENDS and family of a woman trapped on a Caribbean island as Hurricane Irma roared in from the Atlantic were anxiously awaiting news from her this week.

Manon Howell from Llandysul was holidaying with her boyfriend on Mosquito Island in the British Virgin Isles when the hurricane – one of the most powerful ever recorded in the Atlantic basin – struck, causing at least five deaths.

Nothing has been heard of the 40-year-old accountant – a former pupil at Ysgol Dyffryn Teifi – since she rang home on Tuesday of last week to warn her family that the hurricane was approaching.

Mosquito Island is owned by Virgin boss Richard Branson, whose home on nearby Necker island was destroyed in the hurricane.

Manon’s parents, Arwyn and Eirwen Howell, of Saron, hope contact with their daughter will be re-established in the coming days.

Manon is the niece of Carmarthenshire county councillor Ken Howell, of Llangeler. Her sister, Elin, is a production specialist at ITV.

“When I spoke to Manon she sounded very upbeat,” Manon’s aunt, Meifis Griffiths, of Cardigan, told the Cambrian News. “She knew communications were about to be cut off and wanted to give us all some re-assurance before that happened.”

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