An East Flatbush woman describes what she and her friends faced in St. Martin during Hurricane Irma as an "escape from paradise."

Herlynne Pierre says there was a desperate plea for help from firefighters after she and her girlfriends spent 18 hours in a small bathroom in St. Martin.

"We started screaming, 'We are in here, we are in here!'" she says.

It was the only safe place in their vacation home during Irma. Pierre and her friends went to St. Martin Labor Day weekend to celebrate a friend's birthday.

After being helped by firefighters, the survivors reached out to elected officials, which led to them being rescued by the United States military. They were taken to Puerto Rico and returned to the continental U.S. Sunday night.

Pierre says the entire ordeal was traumatic, but she's thankful that she and her friends are alive.