Hurricane hero: Woman rescues nearly 100 dogs, taking them into her home during Dorian

A woman in the Bahamas says she has taken in nearly 100 dogs displaced by Hurricane Dorian. Chella Phillips, who runs Voiceless Dogs of Nassau, a small organization aimed at helping stray dogs in the capital city, said she took 97 dogs into her house as the hurricane slammed into the island on Sunday.

Seventy-nine of the dogs were sheltering in her master bedroom, Phillips wrote on Facebook. "It has been insane since last night," she wrote, "poop and piss non stop but at least they are respecting my bed and nobody has dared to jump in."

Phillips said she played music and blasted the air conditioner for the dogs. She also received some donated crates, which were needed for the scared and sick pups.

"The saddest part is that after the hurricane leave the Bahamas, some islands will take a long time to recover," Phillips wrote in the now-viral post. "Each island has abundance of homeless dogs, my heart is so broken for the ones without a place to hide a CAT 5 monster and only God can protect them now."

Phillips said coincidentally, September 1 was also the fourth anniversary of Voiceless Dogs of Nassau, which has so far cared for about 1,000 homeless dogs.

She ended the post, "Please pray for the Bahamas!" And she provided a PayPal address for those who wish to help financially. Her post also included several photos of the dogs. CBS News has reached out to Phillips and a friend she tagged in the post.

Hurricane Dorian hovered over the Bahamas for nearly 48 hours, with torrential rains and wind gusts reaching over 220 mph wreaking havoc on the small island nation. An estimated 13,000 homes were damaged or destroyed, according to the Red Cross. 

As rising waters from the storm surge enveloped whole neighborhoods, people — and animals — became displaced or worse. If not for Phillips, the fate of at least 97 dogs in Nassau would be unknown.

In:
• Hurricane Dorian