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Valley couple has honeymoon interrupted by Hurricane Irma

Posted at 7:12 PM, Sep 15, 2017
and last updated 2017-09-16 07:50:33-04

A Phoenix-area couple is back home after Hurricane Irma interrupted their tropical honeymoon, leaving them stranded without electricity for days. 

Charlotte and Nick Oliva married in posh Boca Raton, Florida, on Labor Day weekend. They flew to Key West for their honeymoon. That's where another "woman" broke up the romance. Irma, a Category 5 hurricane, was heading their way.

"My husband was very adamant that we should leave straight away, and I threw a fit," Charlotte Oliva said. "Within 10 hours, the hotel evacuated us."

There were no available flights out, so they searched for a car to rent for the three-hour drive to the mainland.

"We got the first convertible, red Mustang out of the Keys," Oliva said.

On Instagram, the convertible car pictures looked cool, but when the couple reached Miami, reality set in. The highway was deserted and the airport closed on them.

"That's when it started hitting me, 'Oh, what do we do?'" Oliva said. "There is no water; there is no frozen food at the stores."

Charlotte's husband improvised, filling plastic bags with water and freezing them. They hunkered down in a hotel with some Florida relatives.  They say they lost electricity for nearly three days.  It was not the honeymoon they planned, but it was certainly unforgettable.

"It was absolutely fascinating to watch the weather go from 30-mile-an-hour winds to more than 100-mile-an-hour winds," Oliva said.

The first big test of your marriage doesn't usually come the first week.

"I think he realizes he's a survivalist in all of this," Oliva said. "He's not going to trust me with gathering any food or water next time, but at least I was there to entertain him."

The Olivas plan to reschedule their honeymoon, but probably not during hurricane season.