BRADENTON, Fla. — Hurricane Dorian seems like a distant memory, but those in the Bahamas are still living a nightmare.
"No one anticipated a hurricane this. If they had a Category 6 level, then it would've been this," Joe Chilberg said.
Chilberg is one of many people who still replays the moment the hurricane hit the Bahamas. He and his partner Sandra Houghton were on vacation on the Islands and almost lost their life. They were trapped in a shelter with hundreds of people
"The first half of the hurricane was 12 hours and we thought, 'Oh okay we can do this. The second half was two days. The winds never stopped. It was like where's the end of it?'" Sandra Houghton said.
The Bradenton couple has waited out storms on their boat before, but this time was different.
"We would've been dead. There wouldn't have been anyone and we would've died there," Chilberg said.
During the storm, they rushed to higher ground with their dog Baci to avoid storm surge. They took shelter with hundreds. When Dorian finally moved away from the Bahamas, nothing was left. A man they didn't know had to drive them away from the rubble.
"It was just as Joe said. It was like Hiroshima. I just said, 'This looks like an apocalypse," Houghton said.
Joe and Sandra are lucky to be alive. They said if they had stayed on their boat, they would've died.
"That was my dream boat. When you lose a dream through a tragedy it's very hard, but you know I have Sandra and Baci and I'll take that. I consider myself very blessed," Chilberg said.
They're home safe now, but they haven't been able to relax. All they want is for help to get to the Bahamas sooner rather than later.
"I want the people of Abaco to know that people here are aware. While help hasn't gotten to you as quickly as I would've liked, it's coming," Houghton said.
They're urging everyone to help by donating to organizations that are helping the Bahamas.
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