A fisherman in the Bahamas said he could only watch as his wife succumbed to hypothermia and drowned in their flooded home as Hurricane Dorian lashed Grand Bahama Island.
Howard Armstrong told CNN the water rose quickly and that the storm surge went over the roof -- which he estimated was 21 feet. He said his wife, Lynn, was standing on kitchen cabinets to stay out of the water. But then the cabinets fell apart.
Armstrong said as they waited for rescue in the flooded house, Lynn slipped under the water.
"And then I kept with her, and she just drowned on me," Armstrong said.
Armstrong said the house became eventually became too flooded to stay inside, so he swam outside and took a chance that his crab fishing boat was still moored. It was, and he swam to safety.
CNN reports Armstrong later went to a neighbor's house to check on someone who he had heard calling for help throughout the night. He found her dead as well.
The official death toll in the Bahamas as of Wednesday morning was seven, but that number is expected to grow. All of those were on the Abaco Islands, so Armstrong's wife is not part of that initial toll.
The storm's punishing winds and muddy brown floodwaters destroyed or severely damaged thousands of homes, crippled hospitals and trapped people in attics.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.