Hurricane Maria, a Category 5 Hurricane, hit Puerto Rico on September 20, becoming the worst natural disaster to hit the Caribbean. My family is from Puerto Rico and we have family all across the island, so when we heard news of Maria we were devastated.
With roughly 85% of the island still out of power, it is hard for outsiders to really know what’s going on down there. We hear stories but it’s not easy for us to understand the struggles that they endure in their now consider their everyday lives.
Days after the storm, we were able to contact our family and find that everyone was physically okay, but the damage done to the island was unbearable. Every now again, we were able to contact our family to speak shortly with them, and this is possible because they must travel 2 hours to reach a spot on the island that has power.
We recently received a call from my uncle who described to us how bad it was down there. He mentioned that he had to wait in line at Sam’s Club for hours only to find out, when he reached the end of the line, that they had run out of food and had to send everyone home. I have as much food as I need in my house, but here are these people now buying every last bit of food in one of the only grocery stores around, desperately waiting for their turn to shop. He also told us about what a journey it was to get gas for their car. The line for gas was also an unbelievably long one. They again, had to wait for hours on end just to get gas for their car.
It’s insane to think that stuff we do every day, without hassle, is now something they see as a journey. These stories that my uncle told, touched my heart immensely and I hope to hear from my family again soon to share with out their struggles, so that their hardships do not go unheard.
