Sean Davis, left, and Samuel Mation stand on the concrete slab where a neighbor's house once stood in the village of Eight Mile Rock on the island of Grand Bahama. The village is one of several devastated by Hurricane Wilma on October 24, 2005.

Davis, his wife, and his four children escaped Wilma's massive storm surge by knocking out the rear wall of their house (background) and driving inland to safety.

Davis then returned to search for Mation, who lives next door.

He found that the surge had flooded Mation's home, and the 74-year-old had climbed into the crawlspace above his ceiling to escape the rising water.

"I got awful frightened," Mation recalled. "When [Davis] pulled me out he said, 'You'll be OK, You'll be OK,' because I got frightened."

 Read "Bahamas Rocked by 'Tsunami' From Hurricane Wilma"
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