NEW HAVEN -- Shandrea Pittman and her friends were trapped in a St. Maarten hotel bathroom as Hurricane Irma came barreling down on the Caribbean Island.
"We cracked the door and you could see through the peephole and through the vents at the bottom that everything was barricaded through our door," says Pittman.
She was celebrating her 33rd birthday with her friends when she learned the category 5 hurricane was going to make a direct hit.
Local residents told the group the to take shelter in a hotel bathroom. Pittman and her friends stayed their for 19 hours all while enduring harsh conditions.
"The noise was so loud. It was probably just like a suction of just everything coming into our room you know, banging up against the wall. The glasses the jewelry the furniture. Just everything all over the place," says Pittman.
The group managed to get help. they were saved by a local fire department and eventually made it back home.
Pittman spent the day eating and enjoying time with family.
She says the entire ordeal only made her stronger.
"I feel like I can move mountains," says Pittman. "There's nothing that I can't do. So I don't think that it will stop me from traveling. I probably won't travel to the Caribbean during hurricane season. I probably will go to Greece or somewhere like that because I love to travel and those who know me know that I like to travel so yes I'll still continue to travel."