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Valley woman stuck in St. Thomas survives during Hurricane Irma

Posted at 9:12 PM, Sep 17, 2017
and last updated 2017-09-18 01:39:31-04

Hurricane Irma created such harsh conditions, a Valley woman stuck in the storm sent her family a text to say "I love you" in case she didn't make it home. 

Alizabeth Blair, 24, and her friend Haley were temporarily living in St. Thomas for an internship when Hurricane Irma started heading towards the island. 

"By the time that we knew it was going to be a Category 5, it was too late," Blair said. 

Blair and her roommate bunkered down inside their apartment. She told ABC15 water was seeping in and the protective hurricane shutter broke open in one spot. 

"We knew right then that something wasn't right, so we kind of freaked out," she said.

Blair says she and her roommate used mattresses as protection from any falling objects. She managed to send a text to her family to say "I love you."

"Kinda was at a moment of just, 'I don't know what's going to happen from here, so we just want to let you know hey, we love you,'" she said. 

Blair's mom, Cambria, received that text and a worried phone call from her daughter. She told ABC15 it was difficult to watch the storm on TV. 

"I just knew my daughter was in that, and the only thing I could do was just pray," said Cambria Blair. 

Blair says she and her roommate, Haley, survived the storm unharmed and eventually made it onto a cruise ship to leave the island. They arrived back in Phoenix on Friday. 

"It was just like surreal, like it was just so crazy to have been working towards being home for the past like week, to all of a sudden being here and just seeing my whole family," Blair said. "It's just crazy."