Our experience here during Maria and the aftermath

Siobhan, thank you for this link to your blog.  I feel your compassion and hope in your writings....Bless you!   I hope you are all well and I see that you may give birth very soon.  Hopefully, all will be well.  Wishing you the best!

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Thank you Siobhan for your blog about the devastation that Puerto Rico has suffered and is currently suffering. We were three of the lucky ones to leave(me, my hubby and brother in law). We lived in Isabela, where I believe the water has been fully restored but in places there is still no power,

We stayed in our rental home during both hurricanes and for the most part the house is still standing , however a good part of the roof in the front of the house is gone. Therefore there was rain pouring in daily since it is still hurricane season.  We lost some furniture, gave away alot of furniture and household things to our neighbors, and we took the stuff that we are having shipped and put it under the house until the shipper comes back. (They came to pick up the stuff but since our house is on a small incline, after the rain, it is very muddy and couldn't get the truck back up without a backhoe)
thus, we are hoping for a week of sun and heat so the ground will dry so they can get our stuff and ship it here to Florida.  Fingers crossed. If not, my hubby will have to fly back and a move the stuff to a better location and get it shipped.  We were there for 18 days after the hurricane most days with water but no power.  We had a small freezer that we used to store some stuff but after a while we had to throw the stuff out.  Luckily, about 2 miles down the road is a Panaderia, that had coffee and bread most days, then some pastries and then finally was able to serve lunch. So we were luckier than most.

Since we did not have alot of cash after Sept. 20 till Oct. 1, we made due , then since there were no ATM s working around, we heard that ATM at Banco Popular in Aguadilla Mall was working so we went at 3am on Oct. 3 and after 6 hours on line were able to get some cash.

We were so thankful that our neighbors father in law came over helped my hubby move a tree so we could get our van out to got to Aguadilla Airport two days after to see about wifi, to no avail and then we met a very nice couple vacationing in PR and we exchanged info so she could contact our daughter, thankfully she did. Then the same father in law allowed us to use his cell phone when he got a signal and we were able to speak to our daughter for the first time after a week. We both cried.

She thought that we were near the dam in Isabela and that we were flooded, thank God no.Anyway, she had made arrangements on about 5 different flights to leave, thankfully we were able to get on a Humanitarian flight on Oct. 8.  When we arrived in Newark, NJ, we truly looked like refuggees after 5 days without a true shower(I used water bottles that I had kept refilling when we had water) and my hubby had a fit when I used 3 bottles to take a shower and wash my hair. I can laugh about it now, but I truly cried twice, once a couple of days after the hurricane and when it rained so hard that in the front of our house the water was coming in like buckets and it got to be about 3 feet deep with my hubby sweeping it out.

It is an experience that I do not ever want to repeat and I pray every night for everyone there that they get power and water soon.We have decided to relocate to Florida for now since our 2 sons are here and my daughter is in NY and can drive or fly down here pretty quickly. When we left on the flight from Aguadilla, I cried to leave our beautiful island that had been so devastated and when we arrived in Newark, I cried when I saw the beautiful lights.  I will be back to visit but probably not to live.  Good luck to all of you and I wish you all the best.  Tonie

Hey Tonie,
Did you not open a breakfast place in Aguadilla a year or so ago? Did you sell it or did it go under prior to the storm?

I think it was in Villa Pesquera in Isabela. Since it's practically on the beach I wouldn't be surprised to learn that there was a lot of damage there...

We closed it in June 2017.

tonie064 wrote:

We closed it in June 2017.

Too much work and not enought money out of it?

Either way, lucky you did not have a business to hold you back when the storm hit.

tonie064 wrote:

Thank you Siobhan for your blog about the devastation that Puerto Rico has suffered and is currently suffering. We were three of the lucky ones to leave(me, my hubby and brother in law). We lived in Isabela, where I believe the water has been fully restored but in places there is still no power,

We stayed in our rental home during both hurricanes and for the most part the house is still standing , however a good part of the roof in the front of the house is gone. Therefore there was rain pouring in daily since it is still hurricane season.  We lost some furniture, gave away alot of furniture and household things to our neighbors, and we took the stuff that we are having shipped and put it under the house until the shipper comes back. (They came to pick up the stuff but since our house is on a small incline, after the rain, it is very muddy and couldn't get the truck back up without a backhoe)
thus, we are hoping for a week of sun and heat so the ground will dry so they can get our stuff and ship it here to Florida.  Fingers crossed. If not, my hubby will have to fly back and a move the stuff to a better location and get it shipped.  We were there for 18 days after the hurricane most days with water but no power.  We had a small freezer that we used to store some stuff but after a while we had to throw the stuff out.  Luckily, about 2 miles down the road is a Panaderia, that had coffee and bread most days, then some pastries and then finally was able to serve lunch. So we were luckier than most.

Since we did not have alot of cash after Sept. 20 till Oct. 1, we made due , then since there were no ATM s working around, we heard that ATM at Banco Popular in Aguadilla Mall was working so we went at 3am on Oct. 3 and after 6 hours on line were able to get some cash.

We were so thankful that our neighbors father in law came over helped my hubby move a tree so we could get our van out to got to Aguadilla Airport two days after to see about wifi, to no avail and then we met a very nice couple vacationing in PR and we exchanged info so she could contact our daughter, thankfully she did. Then the same father in law allowed us to use his cell phone when he got a signal and we were able to speak to our daughter for the first time after a week. We both cried.

She thought that we were near the dam in Isabela and that we were flooded, thank God no.Anyway, she had made arrangements on about 5 different flights to leave, thankfully we were able to get on a Humanitarian flight on Oct. 8.  When we arrived in Newark, NJ, we truly looked like refuggees after 5 days without a true shower(I used water bottles that I had kept refilling when we had water) and my hubby had a fit when I used 3 bottles to take a shower and wash my hair. I can laugh about it now, but I truly cried twice, once a couple of days after the hurricane and when it rained so hard that in the front of our house the water was coming in like buckets and it got to be about 3 feet deep with my hubby sweeping it out.

It is an experience that I do not ever want to repeat and I pray every night for everyone there that they get power and water soon.We have decided to relocate to Florida for now since our 2 sons are here and my daughter is in NY and can drive or fly down here pretty quickly. When we left on the flight from Aguadilla, I cried to leave our beautiful island that had been so devastated and when we arrived in Newark, I cried when I saw the beautiful lights.  I will be back to visit but probably not to live.  Good luck to all of you and I wish you all the best.  Tonie

I feel you! We are still in PR, leaving next week to Germany. We had a horrible experience with Maria that I don't want to have ever again.
In our case, the Añasco River came in our house when we were inside and we had to sit on out kitchen counter 12 hours, while my husband pushed against the door.
We lost all furniture, my husband was able to repair the fridge and tv, half of our clothes were full of mud and a lot of stuff we had in our other cabinets I could only throw away.
Still no power at our house....
We will take our animals with us, and that needed some preparations, that's why it took us so long to leave. But next week we finaly will!
All the best for you in Florida!