Jocelyn Gillam was underwater, pinned underneath a Jeep, as post-tropical storm Fiona battered the coastal town of Port aux Basques, N.L.

Gillam, who lives in the town that was devastated Saturday by the storm, with houses pulled out to sea, power knocked out and communities destroyed, told CTV News Channel on Monday she’s thankful she survived to tell her story.

She was out surveying the damage and looked out to the ocean. “Fiona was coming, she was coming with a vengeance, and I didn’t think she was going to come that far in,” she said.

“She knocked me on my rear and pushed me under the Jeep,” she said. Gillam held onto the bar underneath the car.

She told CTV National News correspondent Adrian Ghobrial that there was a manhole that was sucking water inas she struggled to hold on. The force of the water was pulling Gillam down so her leg was pinned in the hole.

“I was just taking in water…and I closed my mouth because I didn’t want too much water. But I had to scream, and it was so cold and so salty,” she said.

Her brother-in-law saw Gillam beingswept under the vehicle and yelled for neighbours to help and they did.

“I can’t thank the boys around here enough,” she said, her voice breaking.

Gillam is not the only resident to have been knocked over by the storm surge Saturday. An elderly woman in Port aux Basques died after she was swept out to sea.