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Couple's marriage off to stormy start

NICEVILLE - It's been a stormy life together so far for Christopher and Barry Murphy.

The Atlanta couple, both 27, drove through rains generated by Tropical Storm Cindy so they could marry in Niceville, Barry's hometown - a day before Hurricane Dennis hit the Florida Panhandle.

Then they honeymooned in Mexico, only to be evacuated from a resort hotel in Cancun just before Hurricane Emily struck the Yucatan Peninsula last week. They spent about 30 hours in a makeshift shelter at a dilapidated school.

"It was gross," Barry said Tuesday. "There were about 30 people in each classroom, so we had to sleep on the floor, literally head to foot. . . . There wasn't any air conditioning."

Christopher, a pizza shop manager, and his bride, an elementary teacher, were married July 9, a day before Dennis made landfall about 40 miles southwest of here.

The storm's first bands began dropping rain during the reception. It had been moved to a Niceville restaurant on short notice because Eglin Air Force Base, including the officers club where the reception had been booked, was closed because of the approaching storm.

The ceremony at First Methodist Church had been moved up eight hours because people were beginning to evacuate. The couple had expected 400 guests but wound up with 250. About 50 guests stuck it out through the reception.

The couple then drove back to Atlanta and a day later boarded a plane for Mexico. The first three days of their honeymoon were idyllic. But then they began to hear about another hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico.

"We couldn't really get anyone at the hotel to tell us anything, so we called my mother," Barry said. "She told us that it looked like Hurricane Emily was headed straight for us."

The Murphys were able to fly back to Atlanta on July 19.

"Christopher jokes that if we ever have twins, we'd have to name them Dennis and Emily," Barry said.

[Last modified July 28, 2005, 01:09:17]