LYNN — Isaac Davila received the photo early Wednesday morning. It showed his dad in Puerto Rico gearing up for Hurricane Maria. It’s the last correspondence he’s had with his family on the island.
“I have been trying all sources,” said Davila. “Everything is out in our area. The last contact I had with my stepmother was when she sent me the picture of my father. He was getting ready. He was all suited up with his helmet and reflective jacket. They’ve never gone through something like this. You can see the concern on his face.”
Davila said his parents were still clearing debris from their Manati home from previous storms when Maria pummelled through. He has downloaded Zello, an app that works like a walkie talkie, in an attempt to reach family.
Hurricane Maria, the strongest hurricane to hit Puerto Rico in more than 80 years, struck the U.S. territory Wednesday morning as a Category 4 storm with sustained wind speeds of 155 mph. The storm was stronger than Hurricane Irma when it devastated the Florida Keys earlier this month, according to the Associated Press.
Parts of Puerto Rico were still recovering from Irma, which left more than 1 million people without power and caused widespread damage, when Maria hit.
Davila isn’t the only one desperately trying to reach family on the Caribbean island, which was without power Thursday.
Jaime Figueroa, a Lynn resident running for City Council, said he has family in Toa Baja, a town along the northern coast, and Corozal, a municipality in the central-eastern region of the island. He hasn’t heard from any of them.
“The last time I heard from them was Monday,” Figueroa said. “I was talking to my aunt and my Grandma about Irma and how that was going — how we were happy that the island wasn’t hit too bad. And now we have Maria.”
Figueroa said he was told it will be about three days until electricity is restored to 20 percent of Puerto Rico. He hopes to hear from family in about a week.
“It’s a waiting game,” he said. “We’ve always connected well through phone and Facebook calling apps because cell phone service is not what it is here in the United States. We usually check in about once a month but had been checking in more frequently because my grandfather is experiencing health issues. With no electricity, I don’t know how he is getting the medical treatment he needs.”
Antonio Ruiz of Lynn has family in Barranquitas, a small mountain municipality located in the central region, which he has not yet reached. His grandfather’s family, which lives closer to San Juan, is reported to be safe.
“My grandfather has talked to my aunt over there,” said Ruiz. “They have told me that my aunt is OK, but I don’t know what OK means.”
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
