WATCH BELOW - The Day the Sky Turned: One Year Later
George Bustillo sits in the living room of a house rebuilt on the same footprint where a tornado destroyed his previous home a year ago.
The house is almost finished, and it's hard for him to believe that just a year ago he was sitting in rubble.
"Time has … flown by. And we're looking forward to celebrating our one-year anniversary because that day we escaped death. Myself, my wife and my dog," said Bustillo. "It's a flurry of emotions, but it's timely, because it's time to think about it again."
Bustillo described the chaotic afternoon of Oct. 9, 2024, when an EF2 tornado hit Mariner Sands, the Martin County community where they lived. It ended with him trapped under a beam, his wife pulled from the rubble and both of them alive.
"I said to [my wife], when you hear this famous sound of the train, when you hear the train, take cover," said Bustillo. "I finished saying that, and the house explodes. And the next second I'm buried, and the dog's gone and everything is chaos."
Bustillo called his neighbor, who lives across the street, and asked him for help.
"My wife called my other neighbor and said, 'Come over, the house is gone, we're buried,' and then my wife called 911," said Bustillo.
Bustillo said he had prepared for Hurricane Milton and checked on neighbors before the storm. He was outside finishing a cigar and took a picture just eight minutes before the house was gone.
"We were overwhelmed with all the warnings," he said.
Neighbors and first responders reached the home within minutes, Bustillo said.
With a floor jack brought by neighbors and the sheriff, rescuers lifted a beam off him. He said he latched onto the sheriff's flak jacket as they pulled him free, while his wife had already been extracted. The two were reunited in a squad car.
Bustillo described the rescue as a turning point in his life.
"It's amazing. I was never religious before, and after that, I go to church every Sunday. I know for a fact there was divine intervention," he said.
WATCH BELOW: Video shows rescue of George Bustillo, wife after tornado
The emotional aftermath has been mixed with frustration over rebuilding and aid.
Bustillo said local leaders initially promised to waive reconstruction fees, but he says that promise was not honored. Also, he said that federal assistance and help from his community association were minimal.
"They charged us full price to rebuild," he said. "There was very little help from FEMA as well. We had to fend for ourselves and get ourselves a business loan. I'm retired, and it's a financial hardship."
His comments reflect broader complaints from some residents in the weeks and months after Milton about communication, insurance shortfalls and the speed of government aid. Bustillo said insurance covered only a set amount that paid the mortgage and left little for rebuilding beyond that.
"I wasn't planning on doing this, and but I'm alive. I'm happy. My wife is alive, my dog is alive," he said. "If I can help others and motivate them, and not to expect anybody to help you. There's no one that's going to help you."
The experience also changed how he prepares for storms. Bustillo is a former commercial airline pilot who said he's lived in and out of Florida since the 1960s.
Yet Bustillo said while hurricanes don't scare him, tornadoes do. He has now reinforced his newly rebuilt home with concrete block and built a bunker adjacent to the bedroom.
"You can't prepare for a tornado," he said. "This is a completely new thing. "It's hard because tornadoes can spawn in a moment, and then from being dark outside to having a tornado breathing down your neck is. ... It just happens so fast, and once it hits, it's it's over in two seconds."
Despite the lingering financial strain and scattered rebuilding across the neighborhood, Bustillo and his wife are preparing to move back into the new house in the coming weeks. He said the foundation and structure are new; the layout is slightly larger and built to withstand future storms.
"We worked hard to make that happen. You have to have a carrot and ... you go for the goal," Bustillo said. "I feel very fortunate, and we've worked. My wife has worked very hard to make this happen. It's been a team operation."
As the community marks the first anniversary of Hurricane Milton, Bustillo said his goal is simple: to be alive and to help others learn from his experience.
"If anyone finds any strength or any information that they didn't know and it helps them, I'm pleased with that. That's the only reason I'm doing the interview," he said.
