STUART, Fla. (CBS12) — This day one year ago was a disaster many in our area will never forget.

Hurricane Milton spawned numerous tornadoes. We caught up with one couple in Stuart who lost their home in this devastating incident.

The couple lost everything in the tornado one year ago today.

Their home completely gone. They chose to rebuild on the very same spot where their home once stood.

“I was underneath that debris, I was underneath that beam,” said George Bustillo, when we spoke with him one year ago.

One year ago, George Bustillo, a retired airline pilot, showed us where he was and described the nightmare he and his wife went through when a tornado blew apart their three-bedroom house in Mariner Sands on October 9, 2024.

“It was one second, explosion, everything goes into the house, all the windows, everything, all the force of that tornado comes in and the next second, the whole roof collapses on me, and I’m pinned,” Bustillo said.

Still photos from that day show Bustillo trapped under the rubble before he was rescued.

Remarkably, he says he was not injured and neither was his wife, who was in the laundry room when the tornado hit.

“I heard a tremendous noise as though it was a plane crash or train crash or a car crash. Within seconds, I looked up and there was no roof,” said Marlene Bustillo.

The roof was torn off. Part of it ended up in their swimming pool.

“I didn’t have time to be frightened. I did not have time. Within seconds, it was over,” Marlene Bustillo said.

See also: Spanish Lakes community still recovering 1 year after tornadoes from Hurricane Milton

“It’s terrifying, but at the same time, you’re alive. You’re so grateful to be alive, and you can’t believe that you survived this,” George Bustillo explained.

Bustillo says a neighbor rescued him, using a jack to prop up debris.

“We took a direct hit from the tornado. So our home was totally leveled. Nothing left,” he said.

All the couple had worked for, the home where they had lived since 2013, his Harley Davidson, all their furniture and possessions, clothing, you name it, just about everything they owned was gone.

The EF 2 tornado was captured on their car’s dash camera.

Bustillo says over 40 homes on their street – Burning Tree Circle, were either damaged or destroyed by the twister.

Now, a year later, some of those homes are still waiting to be repaired.

“We were homeless, but we weren’t hopeless. and we were able to rebuild a home and continue with our lives,” George Bustillo said.

The Bustillos just moved into their new home three weeks ago. They built the new home on the same spot where their last home was destroyed.

“It’s a long process. It takes patience, perseverance, and teamwork to rebuild,” he said.

But this home has one feature the last home did not.

“In the future, if we do have a tornado situation, we built this closet into a bunker with a steel door,” he said as he showed us the closet in their master bedroom.

“It was a year ago today. The tornado took our home, but it didn’t take our lives. I think that’s the bottom line,” Marlene Bustillo said.

George and his wife say they hope the fact that they were able to get through this disaster might inspire others in a similar disaster to stay positive and stay focused because that’s what really matters.

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