The following is taken mostly from an excerpt of a letter I wrote to a dear friend in Sweden about
Hurricane Georges, and how it affected the island of Puerto Rico. Since I wrote the letter,
two (2) more electric power workers have died, and another fell 25 feet to the ground, the reason unknow.
Also, FEMA, a United States Federal relief program has been helping people recover from their losses, as
have churches, companies and the local government.
Well, dear brother, you wanted to know about the hurricane, and now I have So, we also stored water, and bought canned foods and batteries By Monday morning we had the wooden planks in place, and were ready Lots of houses were ruined or damaged by the wind, roofs were blown The hurricane brought lots of wind to the island, but Carolina (my city) Sometime late at night, we felt a calm, as if someone had turned off the The islands agriculture is in ruins, too. Besides rice, we eat a fruit of a plant called
"plátanos", a sort of cousin of the banana tree, and similar in taste. It When I look around at the island, it looks just as if a forest fire had All of this happened in less than 24 hours, and as I try to describe it to And people were desperate for electricity, so they bought electrical plants School is out for now, until they have electricity and water for the
But we have survived, and my family is all doing well, so is Eddie's
The Dominican Republic was hit even harder, for this nation has mostly
some time to write to you... I wonder what to tell? We all prepared, as
did most of the rest of the island. I would say all who could either went
to shelters, or put up wooden planks over their windows to guard against
flying objects and or rain, or the windows being broken by the strength of
the wind.
for our
radios, candles and all such stuff. I didn't store enough water, but God
was good, and we were able to get water from the creek behind our house.
It's hard to reach it, since we live higher than the creek, and it can be
even dangerous to reach it. But I needed the water for the toilettes, and
Eddie went for it.
for the
hurricane. The winds started by midday, and the hurricane force winds
began by around 5 p.m. They are strong wind gusts, which bent trees and
street lamp posts, broke cement electrical posts, and uprooted very old
trees.
away... It was a howling wind, and although I have a cement house, I felt
somewhat frightened by it. It seemed to want to blow away our house. I
was told that the force of the winds that reached my city, Carolina, were
only of around 80 miles per hour, but I think the gusts were stronger!
The electricity was gone by 3 pm, and the water service also left, we had
no running water by midnight. The children were frightened by the wind, it
was so strong and so loud! It was bending trees as if with a giant hand.
was
protected by El Yunque, a Mountain close to the middle of the island,
towards the east. It buffered us from the worse of it. Not so other parts
of the island, especially in the south. Georges also brought lots of rain,
and since the island had already been showered by many rainstorms and
tropical waves,, the ground was saturated, and flooding occurred. This
made many homes to be washed away by the flooding rivers. We have over
10,000 persons in shelters, many of them no longer have homes, no clothes,
no cars, no nothing, except for their lives. They are already being helped
by the government.
wind all of a sudden. It stayed with us for a while, and then came the
winds again. I told my husband, "I think that was the eye of the
hurricane." And he agreed with me. The winds that came from the other
side of the hurricane were even stronger than the first winds, and these
blew away a wooden porch cover we had in the back... And of course, most of
the island looks as if a giant had come and vacuumed all the leaves away
and stepped on all the light posts. Electrical cables are all over the
ground, and metal siding and aluminum roofs and wooden roofs, too. I'm
told it will take the island over 10 years for the flora to recover, and
the tropical rain forest is in ruins. But most of the Puerto Rican parrots,
(scientific name, Amazona Vittata Vittata), are still alive. It is found only on the
island.
is a staple in our diet, and all of the plantain trees, and the banana
trees are on the ground. I went to the center of the island with my
husband, so he could check on his father, and I saw all of the crops on the
ground. It was a very sad sad sight, because this is the livelihood of
many Puerto Ricans. Puerto Rican coffee is famous around the world... I am told the whole coffee crop is also lost.
happened here. Even grass from the ground, from the soil was yanked out,
as if pulled by a hand!
you, I think that I am failing, for it is worse than what I say... HOw can
you describe the confusion, the desperation of people who have lost
everything? Some have even died, though not as a direct result of the
hurricane. One women had a heart attack because she was in a long line,
waiting for an chance to get water. I saw many persons going to the
countryside, to the mountains, where there are small fountains, or little
water fall, so they could get water. Water became so scarce!
powered by gasoline. They are so noisy! But we survived, the water is
being restored to the different areas already, and so is electricity. But
it is a slow job, since so much damage was done to the lines. We've
already had 2 deaths of the electrical plant workers who were electrocuted
while doing their jobs... They need rest, and need to be alert while doing
their jobs... Please pray for their families...
children. Or else, disease can spread. We have to look out now so the
disease called Dengue won't spread. It is transmitted by a mosquito called
Aedes Aegypti.
family. The church suffered no losses either. We just need the electric
service to come back, so we can be comfortable. It is terribly hot inside,
without air conditioning or fans to cool us off. We used to meet for
services in a park (yes, in a park under the trees! ) but the park is in
ruins. But we are all doing fine, and accounted for. Praise be to God!!!!
:o)
wooden houses, and the poverty is terrible there. So far, over 200 dead
and more are missing... Please pray for this nation also.
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Hebrews 13:5 says: "I will never leave you nor forsake you." I believe that with all my heart, and I thank You, Lord
Jesus Christ, for the protection You gave us during this terrible storm.
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