Multiple mixed breed adult and younger Rottweilers or similar large dogs in an indoor shelter setting with natural light streaming through, two colored buckets visible on tiled floor. 1:19
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97 dogs ride out Hurricane Dorian in her house

As Hurricane Dorian bore down on the Bahamas with winds of 185 mph, Chella Phillips and her brother went out looking for stray dogs. They brought every one they found to her house, 97 in all. more

Chella runs The Voiceless Dogs of Nassau, a no-kill rescue. Some people call her the crazy dog lady, a name she takes to heart. When she moved to the Bahamas, she fell in love with the place but couldn't ignore the strays begging for scraps. She fostered, then adopted, then built a shelter that has saved nearly 1,000 homeless and abandoned dogs.

Several dogs sit beneath a wooden structure in dim light, their eyes glowing as they look toward the camera. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Dogs crowd under a wooden shelter, eyes shining back in the dark.

Now the strays were inside, and the space ran out fast. Of the 97, 79 ended up in her master bedroom. She posted that it had been insane since the night before, but at least they were respecting her bed. Nobody had dared to jump in.

They barricaded the refuge, and no dog was left outside. Music played in every part of the house, and the air conditioning blew for the dogs. People had donated money for crates, which she badly needed for the scared ones and the sick ones.

Then the storm hit hard. The power went out, the water started to rise, and lightning fried every TV in the house. That meant no more cartoons for the sick dogs until she could buy new sets.

Her brother slept for one hour. Chella didn't sleep at all. She spent the night on her feet, drying the house and looking after dogs that were terrified.

Multiple mixed breed adult and younger Rottweilers or similar large dogs in an indoor shelter setting with natural light streaming through, two colored buckets visible on tiled floor. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
As Hurricane Dorian bore down on the Bahamas with winds of 185 mph, Chella Phillips and her brother went out looking for stray dogs.

Scores of people wrote to thank her and offer help. Her next update brought good news. She and all 97 dogs were safe. The wind, she wrote, had sounded like a train that wouldn't pass, and water had seeped in through the window seams and under the doors.

Then she could see the damage. The dog houses, tents and crates were wrecked and would have to be rebuilt. She saw many more homeless and lost dogs, and medical helicopters flying over. Thunderstorms kept coming, so the dogs couldn't go out yet, and she had about a week of food left for all those mouths.

She was heartbroken for the strays who found no shelter and said she could not see how any living being survived outside. Her own dogs had come through it together. Packed in tight, all 97 stayed on their best behavior.