TWO former Andover residents who were victims of Hurricane Maria back in September, spent Christmas in the UK after a successful fundraising campaign to rescue them.

Joe and Tina Henry lived in Andover for around 30 years before moving back to the Dominica in 1996, but had their lives left in chaos following the category five hurricane four months ago.

As previously reported in The Advertiser, their granddaughter Terri Henry had launched an emergency appeal to bring her family members back to Andover as the Caribbean island was recommending residents to leave the country due to the hurricane’s destruction.

Around three months later, Terri and Joe successfully made it back to the UK following the appeal, and have since been living in London as they failed to secure housing in Andover.

Terri and her two children, who had also been left stranded in the UK due to the hurricane, are now hoping to return to their home in Dominica in the new year.

Terri said: “My grandparents did make it to the UK but are staying in London as I was not able to secure any housing for myself or them in Andover.

“Me and the kids have been squeezed in with my mum for too long now and I’m planning for us to return to Dominica -where amazingly our house remained intact- in the new year.

“This is a tough choice as the kids have really settled in well at school and made good friends and the infrastructure for Dominica is challenging, yet overall it seems best for us to at least give our home a try.”

The family spent Christmas separately in Andover and London, however met for a pre-Christmas get together in Andover a few weeks ago.