Couple returns to Bradenton after surviving Dorian inside resort safe room

BRADENTON, Fla. (FOX 13) - A couple from Bradenton is back home after being forced to ride out Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas.  It was a frightful experience they will never forget.

Joe Chilberg and Sandra Houghton are avid boaters, often living on their 49-foot vessel. They were in Marsh Harbor staring down the barrel of a massive hurricane.

“As it got closer and we realized it would be a direct hit, Sandra threatened to kill me if the hurricane didn't so we went to the Abaco resort,” Chilberg said.

They recorded video inside a safe room where they rode out part of the storm. 

“The water starting come down, the power went off. The generators went off.  It was pitch black with 150 people in there, 4-6 inches of rainwater in there, no one could go to the bathroom, so the sanitation situation became awful,” said Chilberg.

They would then fight triple-digit wind speeds to crawl up to their room.

I’m thinking I’m going to get blown off here, I can’t do this,” Houghton said. “Something with her and that storm, she was so calm, she was everybody's support dog, really,” Houghton said of their 12-year-old schnoodle, Baci.

Once the monster storm finally subsided, the couple made their way to the airport and was flown to safety by seaplane. 

On the way, all they saw was destruction.

“In terms of rebuilding that place, it’s going to take years, there's nothing,” she said.

Unfortunately, the couple’s boat is a total loss.