Pensioner owners of Hayling Island beach hut flattened in Storm Eunice’s blast appeal for help rebuilding their cabin

David Flower, 84, and his wife Jacqueline Flower, 83, found their Hayling Island seafront cabin in pieces after it had been blasted by yesterday’s storm.

Now, they are asking for anyone who has the skills to help rebuild the beach hut to get in contact – before the wall panels are blown away for good.

Mr Flower said: ‘We’ve had a hut down there for well over 30 years.

‘We love going down and sitting for an hour or two.’

The couple’s three sons, eight grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren also love using the beach hut on visits to Hayling seafront.

Mr Flower said: ‘We were up in Somerset for a funeral on Friday morning, and we heard the funeral was cancelled because of the weather.

‘We rushed back here ahead of the storm.’

Only a few minutes after returning home, the couple received a phone call telling them that their beach hut was broken.

Mr Flower said that this was ‘quite a shock’, and added: ‘It was only a year ago that we had it completely renewed.

‘It was only just a week ago it was moved so we had to take everything out. There was no weight in it.’

The hut had been moved from near the Inn on the Beach to near Bound Lane.

SEE ALSO: Storm Eunice: Recap all the updates as storm caused chaos and disruption across Portsmouth with flooding, fallen trees and road closures

Mr Flower said: ‘When we rushed down there we found it was in a state, we couldn’t believe it. We hadn’t seen anything like it.

‘Now we have to try and rebuild it but everyone’s got fences down so I don’t know how long it will be.

‘It’s a bit difficult, a bit of a nuisance.’

The walls of the beach hut will now need to be reconstructed.

If you think you can help the Flowers, contact [email protected] with details of the assistance you can offer.

Mr Flower added: ‘Since it happened, the Norse [South East] people who look after the huts have been very good.

‘When we first went down, we had no idea what we were going to do.

‘It had been picked up and thrown down by the wind.

‘We couldn’t do anything ourselves but the Norse people gave us a hand to pick up all the pieces.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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