Hemingway cats survive Irma lashing

Miami

HURRICANE Irma may have wreaked devastation to the Florida Keys islands but, much to everyone's relief, a colony of six-toed cats descended from a pet owned by Ernest Hemingway has survived without a scratch.

Stern orders to evacuate, dire warnings of the doom that inevitably awaited and the desperate pleas of the legendary writer's granddaughter weren't enough to budge the caretakers of the historic house - who decided to place their faith in the building's thick limestone walls and ride out the monster storm with their 54 feline friends.