Today it's been one year since H. Maria and we've still not
recovered. How can we recover? There are so many tiny details that no
one can cover and no one can make right again. Especially the horror we
experienced and the suffering of so many. But we survived.
Lots of houses looked like they were sandblasted, and I'm not talking
only about the houses close to the sea. Son #1 worked for Hotel La Concha,
had to work during the hurricane and the sea surge was horrifying, flooding the lower hotel rooms and basement, he
feared for his life. The windows were blown out and they had to be moved
to another part of the hotel. The hotel's back-up generators failed. Our own generator malfunctioned and to this day is no good. We had to get a new one, and it arrived AFTER we had power again.
The trees had no leaves. It sounds weird to say that, but it means no flowers, so no crops, the coffee, banana and plantain crops were destroyed. Broccoli, lettuce, fruits, etc. Well, most anybody's crop was ruined. The heat was despairing. No leaves = no shade. And yet, we couldn't leave the windows open because one of the neighbors had an old diesel power generator that spewed awful fumes into our house. There was nothing we could do about it.
I almost lost my car, the water on the street kept rising and went halfway up the car, no safe food for me, trying to make it through another day in the heat with either no or either tiny battery fans. Trying to make food for my family that was palatable. Washing clothes by hand, towels, mom's soiled clothing and soiled bed clothing. Some people still don't have electricity and water. I live in the metro area. We got electricity some time around November. We sent water and food and clothes and supplies to family in the mountains. We knew God would provide for us and He did. Many lost their homes, but nobody will/can help. I can't really describe the horror of such a hurricane, the Island has never been the same. For all that people criticize PR, we have contributed many many soldiers to US wars since 1917 and now, with this hurricane, many many of our professionals have left: nurses, teachers, doctors, electronics specialists, skilled labor. They went to the States to find jobs and the island is now suffering that loss, too.
The mess about deaths... well, doctors wrote what the people were dying from, and didn't include "as an indirect result of the hurricane" so that death doesn't count. Like a heart attack and the patient dying a week later. Or someone who died two months later, but it all started September 20, 2017.
The trees had no leaves. It sounds weird to say that, but it means no flowers, so no crops, the coffee, banana and plantain crops were destroyed. Broccoli, lettuce, fruits, etc. Well, most anybody's crop was ruined. The heat was despairing. No leaves = no shade. And yet, we couldn't leave the windows open because one of the neighbors had an old diesel power generator that spewed awful fumes into our house. There was nothing we could do about it.
I almost lost my car, the water on the street kept rising and went halfway up the car, no safe food for me, trying to make it through another day in the heat with either no or either tiny battery fans. Trying to make food for my family that was palatable. Washing clothes by hand, towels, mom's soiled clothing and soiled bed clothing. Some people still don't have electricity and water. I live in the metro area. We got electricity some time around November. We sent water and food and clothes and supplies to family in the mountains. We knew God would provide for us and He did. Many lost their homes, but nobody will/can help. I can't really describe the horror of such a hurricane, the Island has never been the same. For all that people criticize PR, we have contributed many many soldiers to US wars since 1917 and now, with this hurricane, many many of our professionals have left: nurses, teachers, doctors, electronics specialists, skilled labor. They went to the States to find jobs and the island is now suffering that loss, too.
The mess about deaths... well, doctors wrote what the people were dying from, and didn't include "as an indirect result of the hurricane" so that death doesn't count. Like a heart attack and the patient dying a week later. Or someone who died two months later, but it all started September 20, 2017.
Attached
is the dust cloud that came yesterday from the Sahara Desert. I got it from a site on the net, will put the link as soon as I find it. The sky
looks gray all around, no blue in sight, and yet there are no rain
clouds. Ick. I'm going to run the air conditioner in the living room
tonight so they doggies won't feel choked and the house will be cleaner.
It's a fine dust, like cement dust. As to me, I wait on the Lord... O Lord, in the morning, will I direct my prayer unto you and will look up. Amen.
1 Samuel 7:12
12 Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.UPDATE: MORE HURRICANE MARIA PHOTOS
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