The Caribbean Hurricane Page Updates from the Islands Georges - Puerto Rico http://www.gobeach.com/hurr.htm

If you are looking for family/friends on Puerto Rico, you can post your plea for help on the Puerto Rico Lost & Found Bulletin Board. For people who have been in contact with Puerto Rico, or live on Puerto Rico, please, also take a look at this Bulletin Board and try to see if you can help out these sometimes desparate people...

The most recent updates can be found on another page.

Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 12:06:11 -0400
From: Angel M. Villamil (avilla@prtc.net)
Subject: PR Situation

Sept. 28/98

This is the first time I login since hurricane Georges.  Conditions in PR
are slowly returning to "normal".  40% electricity and 70% water services
are functioning.  Local telephones are workign 80% capacity.  There is some
trouble with long distance calls. If you know of somebody with internet
acces in the vecinity of your family you can e-mail said person, maybe he
could give details of conditions prevailing in the area.  San Juan
Metropolitan area, and near cities are relativelly in good conditions.
Wood and aluminum buildings are very damage but no direct human casualties
(except for 2 persons that had a heart stroke and died in Aguadilla).
Contact red cross they can channalize any help or information.  South,
southeast and southwest part of PR are very damaged, but thank God we are
on our way of recovering from this situation, hopefully in the near future.

Angel M. Villamil, Esq.
Member HTML Writers Guild
avilla@prtc.net
http://premium.caribe.net/~amvr/


Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 09:39:48 -0500
From: Alicia Coverston (acoverst@iupui.edu)
Subject: RE: Vieques

It seems that Vieques was not as hard hit as the main island. My
brother-in-law went there and said that most of the damage was to squaters'
homes in Monte Carmelo and in Villa Borinquen, where most homes are built
out of wood.

They supposedly have electricity now, but still have no water or telephone
service, although calls within the island go through. Here is a message I
received from Wanda Bermudez, who had someone go there.

Thanks again for all your help.

"My brother got back from Vieques yesterday. He says the damage in Vieques
was not much at all. There was not much structure damage. The airport did 
not get damaged other than a couple of aluminum sheets that were loose on 
a cover walkway. The ferry boats did not get damaged at all. The Esperanza 
area looks fine also. The only damage he could see was on trees and 
vegetation, broken branches, uprooted trees, wind burned leaves and such. 
Sun Bay beach got some beach erosion, in the middle of the bay, exposing
rocks and coral that was previously covered by sand. The northern shore 
did not suffer much impact. Electric service was restored yesterday. 
There is still no water. People are procuring water from a well next to 
Sun Bay beach. There is no phone communication to the outside but local 
calls are possible. I also read on El Nuevo Dia's internet edition of
their newspaper at http://www.endi.com that there will be a satellite 
installed at the City Hall to communicate to Puerto Rico."

--
Wanda Bermudez
http://www.vieques-island.com
vieques-@vieques-island.com


Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 09:02:28 -0500
From: Megan Lugo (megan.y.lugo@ac.com)

Thank god we finally got in touch with our family in Guayanilla, Puerto
Rico!  Many tears of joy have been shed.

They are all O.K. and although there was some damage to my grandmother's
home, it seems to be salvageable.

My family seems to be doing their best in this difficult situation.  One of
my aunts said she wished she had a video camera because Puerto Rico looks
like it did when she was a little girl.  She said my grandmother was down
at a fresh water stream doing her laundry with some other women from their
town.

As for damage, we were told that on one street the electrical posts could
be up but on the next street everything is flattened.  They are having a
water shortage and as we were speaking to them one of my aunts was waiting
in a water line my grandmother said she could be in for hours.  All of my
grandmother's fruit trees are gone, however most of her animals survived.
Their gas tank survived so they are able to cook, but they will have to be
vegetarians indefinitely as it seems as if power will be out for quite a
while.

Thank you so much for this information service.  It has been the only place
I could get any specific information about what was happening in P.R.,
especially right after the storm.

Megan Lugo


Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 09:20:46 -0400
From: Terry Castro Vega (vega@telephonics.com)
Subject: Yauco

Aftermath conditions due to the hurricane in Yauco were quite severe -
the shopping mall was 50%-75% destroyed.  Sartoruis Pharmacutical
sustained quite a bit of damage but the building is still standing. 
Yauco sustaining major damage since I was told it was in the direct path
of the hurricane.  My mother (Anna M. Castro) from Lindenhurst. NY and
her twin sister (Anna L. Vega) from Orlando, FL (both 88 yrs old) were
visiting family (Mr. Luis Orengo and his daughter Mrs. Debbie Orengo
Rivera) in Yauco when the hurricane hit.  Thank God all in my family are
fine however, the town was isolated for days, but everyone helped
eachother and managed.  Water was restored on Thursday 9/24 and
electricity and phone were restored on Saturday 9/26.  Spoke to Yauco on
Sunday 9/27 and things are picking up for them.  No reported deaths as
far a I know and the town in a full clean-up mode.  A special thanks to
Jose Cruz and Richard Montalvo who I contacted in my desperation for info
on Yauco when I was looking for my Mom and family.  Thank a mil.

A side note - my Dad's family is from San Sebastian - any news about that
town - how did they fare?  

Terry Castro Vega
e-mail: vega@mail.telephonics.com


Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 08:03:13 -0300
From: Debra Vela (davela@caribe.net)

Checking in from San Juan . . .

Great news!  Just heard from my Consultant in Ponce.  They just got
their phones back!  So they're coming back to life as well.  For those
who haven't heard from loved ones - please be patient, phones are coming
back up daily.  The better news from them is they only have to wait one
hour in line to get a bag of ice - we have to wait a minimum of five.  I
told Marshall forget the hour, if two trays will do you, I'll bring it
in to work every day, we can leave it in the freezer since we're on full
power there and you take it home to have a cool drink in the evening.
He said okay.  Ice is gold here.

I still haven't heard from my Consultant in Rio Grande.  I will try
again today.

Hang in there everyone - I'm recharged!

v.


Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 01:35:52 -0500
From: Jim Skillington 
Subject: Links You May Want to Note

We invite you to add information on your site about the Disaster News
Network. Our Puerto Rico Response page
(http://www.disasternews.net/puertorico) now has information about disaster
response and will continue to stay up-to-date as long as responders are
active -- likely for the next few years. From this page, we provide links
to disaster response org's that are requesting donations and, when they are
announced, we will provide the most complete information available about
volunteer opportunities on the island.

Jim Skillington
Disaster News Network
http://www.disasternews.net
Sponsored by Church World Service

410-203-9119 or 1-888-203-9119
news@disasternews.net


Date: Sun, 27 Sep 1998 22:13:00 -0600
From: Brian Robertson (robertso@frii.com)
Subject: Vieques contacts after Georges

We have been in contact with Bill (wthomas3@maine.rr.com) and he has been
in contact with a women named Helen on Vieques [...] -anyway he says phones
are still out and it may be another week--thought they had power for
awhile but then maybe a generator on main island blew--says they can hear
generators running all over island--the stores on the island are giving
away food to those in need and all are helping each other--water is
brought by ferry from main island--only one known injury of smashed
finger--most damage is broken windows--all in all they say things are
pretty good--the Mar Azul is open and serving drinks--contact works there
part time--thanks for all you do--if I knew who to tell I would recommend
you for some sort of medal--

Brian


Date: Sun, 27 Sep 1998 23:42:13 -0400
From: Mike (montalvo@monisys.ca)
Subject: News From Cabo Rojo

I finaly contacted my mom at Cabo Rojo she and every one else is ok uhm
unfortunatly my mother said that there was only 2 dead in Cabo Rojo they didn't
want to listen the it was comming and the house fell on them sorry to say that
and worry any body I yet on't know
who they were but as soon as I can get a hold of my mom again hopfully she'll
know.  Well my mother told me that yes the eye did come out through Cabo Rojo,
she said that 2 tornados were formed too and that when the eye was on top of
them it was total silience and
stillness for 1 hour then it just hit again but stronger and thats where the
roofs of houses flew, my mother had a big water tank she lost it cause the when
flew a steel sheet and it cut it like a razor blade so she lost al her water,
my mother also had a business she
lost the roof and part of it, the entire roof of our niebors fell 2 feet away
from my grandmothers car there is still no light and no water, and the phone
lines work part way you can call to Cabo Rojo but they have a really hard time
to call out my mother hasn't been
able to call out but some family has been able to call her, she said that this
hurracane is the worst one sinces San Felipe in 1958 (If I am not mistaken)
there are bearly any trees, my mother lost all of her quenapa trees and mango
trees she has left to aguacato
trees and half of another on cause it was cut by a steel sheet, she also went
to the beach and well the beach is very dirty the winds took out all the bottom
of the sea like seaweeds and just covered all of the beach with it, and uhm I
forgot the town my mother said
but, just so you know the stregth of things there was a damn that got broken
and the water presure was so strong it went through a bakery it took out al of
the big ovens through the front and they were at the business in front and a
dealer lost all of his 1999 cars
the all smashed agains one onother and the widows poped, my mom said they did
like dominos reaction, well so far thats all the news I have for now, sorry for
all the spelling mistakes and I hope who ever still hasn't contacted their love
ones can and if I can help in
any way I will, good luck and may God bless you all... and thanx to those who
tryed helping me :o)

Mike

PS: I really feel bad for my sweet little Island it use to be one of the most
beautiful places it's a shame it lost it's beauty, for now.......Love to all


Date: Sun, 27 Sep 1998 19:25:33 -0400
From: Cindy (cruciger@terranova.net)
Subject: Some Humorous notes from Puerto Rico

   The Hurricane wasn't with out one or two moments of wide grins.  Dave
O'Neil in Aguadilla asked a friend if he could store his car in their
enclosed garage.  His friend said yes and gave him the garage door opener.
The car is fine.  But.  there is no power there and no other way to get to
his car!  His friend evacuated and won't be back for some time!  So.
Anyone there in Aguadilla with a car, please pick Dave up.  He is stranded.
<g>
   My Mother works for Sony corporation in Ft. Meyers, Fla.  The night of
the hurricane she got a call fron San Juan from a woman in a storm shelter
- calling from a cell phone {Gotta love cell phones!} asking how to put the
batteries in her new radio!  Tip for next time, put the batteries in before
it gets too dark to see anything.<vbg>
   My home here in the keys is still standing but the place is a major
mess.  I was homeless for four days while the county government decided if
they wanted us back.  One road in and one road out and a man with a very
big gun standing at the entrance.  Wearing black.  In the subtropical heat.
 Which means he wasn't a happy man with a very big gun.  So we just stared
at him for two days from our car, until he finally blinked.
   Hang tough.  The power will be restored.  The water problem is probably
endless.  Cisterns.  Fema should buy everyone a cistern like they have in
Puerto Penasco, Mexico and Bermuda.  Tell them I said so.

Sincerely,

Cindy Cruciger


Date: Sun, 27 Sep 1998 19:19:40 -0400
From: "rafa://puerto rico" (rafapr@sprynet.com)
Subject: Georges +6 Days

27-IX, 2330Z, 07:30 pm EDT

This is a VERY loose translation and transcription from a local TV news program.

A father and his grown son suffered burns while refueling a portable generator
in Humacao. The house they were in and five cars were totally burned. The
victims were hospitalized, one of them with 2nd degree burns on 7% of his body.
A hospital spokesman said that this was not the first burn case, caused while
refueling generators.

Lares, a coffee-growing, mountain town, still has no water, nor power. The mayor
said that 90% of the wooden houses had been lost, and 60-70% of the roads are
impassible. Refugees need cots and sleeping bags in the shelters. The bridge at
Pozuela is out, and it alone connects the town to 8 additional sectors. There is
no local AM radio, nor phones. An additional 10 bridges in the town are damaged.

A commercial from the water works tells us that there are 51 tanker trucks
distributing water. Unfortunately, the trucks were apparently bankers or lawyers
in another life. The timetable is 10:00 am to 6:00 pm.

Local health authorities are worried about additional 'dengue' outbreak. The
State Secretary of Health, did not have the number of new cases for last week.
(As if anyone was going around counting who had a new dengue case.) She also
explained how water should be purified. Jot this down, you never know when it
might come in handy. Add 8 drops of common Clorox, to a gallon of water, shake
and let sit for 30 minutes. If a child has diarrhea or vomiting, a good
substitute for Pedialyte is 1-2 teaspoons of sugar, and one of salt in a quart
of water. If possible, water must be boiled three minutes. Maybe I'm missing
something here, put I thought the water coming out of the pipes was potable.

The ONLY hospital STILL without electrical power, is La Concepción Hospital in
San Germán.

Nine airplanes arrived from the States with 10,500 blankets and 3,000 cots.

The court system will remain closed until October 5th.

The US Air Force, no kidding, has sent a fact finding mission to check up on how
federal funds are being used for those in need. They visited various shelters,
taking photos and video.

Ice is now Puerto Rico's cold gold. Lines near ice plants are blocks long, and
the wait is a good 8-10 hours. Some people show up in the middle of the night to
claim their stake. A couple of incidents of ice-jacking, a new crime even in
Puerto Rico's criminal code, have occurred. Police are protecting the ice
plants.

The Power Authority expects to meet it's goal of electrifying 50% of Puerto Rico
by midnight tonight. The other 50% may have to wait up to 7 months. 80% of the
islands mayors are in contact with the State Crisis Center. No mention made of
the other 18 towns. There are 18,520 refugees in 224 shelters, 120 of them
schools. Public schools will open tomorrow IF they have water service. Plans are
underway to move refugees to vacant industrial buildings, to clear out the
schools.

State government employees were paid on Friday, advancing their payday by a
week. Unfortunately the checks were dated September 30th..

In spite of all of the previous, we are still washing clothe when no thought
there could ever be more filthy clothe, hacking at fallen trees when one would
think there's a tree still standing, we are still sweeping leaves off sidewalks,
when one would expect that there couldn't be any more leaves, using enough
flashlights to light up a baseball stadium and lugging around enough water in
anything that has four sides and bottom, to fill a fleet of ocean-going ship
tankers.


Date: Sun, 27 Sep 1998 18:08:03 -0400 (EDT)
From: M.Cintron (spiritbear@webtv.net)
Subject: Guanica/Ensenada

We have finally been able to contact relatives in Guanica and Ensenada.
The situation in the larger town of Guanica is extremely critical due to
a complete lack of drinking water.  Families have begun to run out and
none has been available via the supermarkets which are also totally out
of food.  The report from my aunt is that the wooden houses in town have
mostly all been destroyed.  Again, thankfully, there are no deaths
reported.  As road 116 appears to have finally been opened we are
praying that water and supplies will finally be arriving but there are
no guarantees and I am asking anyone who has the ability to mobilize a
convoy to the area to please do so. This is an area that was
incommunicado for many days.  Phone service is slowly being restored.

The town of Ensenada seems to have faired a little better.  Although
some of the wooden houses were destroyed others survived.  Roof were
blown off some houses yet it appears that the majority of homes were
spared.  One uncle has a very old wooden house overlooking the baseball
park and it survived intact.  Another aunt had half her roof blown away
but the majority suffered little or no damage.  Some trees appear to
have survived as well.  Again the critical need here is for drinking
water and food.  Phone service has been restored to many homes.  There
are some relatives who live further up on calle Luna who we have been
unable to reach at all however so if anyone has any information from
that area, please contact me.  My uncle is Eusebio Negron.  He and his
wife have not been heard from.  Thank you for maintaining this website,
it has been a beacon of hope for many of us even when the news has been
extremely bleak.  Just being able to hear some news has kept many of us
from falling into total despair.  God bless you all.

M.Cintron
New York City


Date: Sun, 27 Sep 1998 17:39:17 -0400
From: Jorge L. Belendez (belendez@caribe.net)
Subject: A STORY ABOUT A "COQUI" - WE WILL ENDURE, WE WILL PERSIST, WE WILL
    PREVAIL...

Dear Family and Friends:

This morning I had so much to do that I forgot to tell you something that
happenned last night that for me is VERY, VERY important.

Last night I awoke at about 4:30 am and I was very thirsty. So I went and
got myself a room temperature glass of water (reminded me of my Army
training days) and went to the balcony of my eight floor apartment to check
on the Security Guard (remember its almost total darkness out there) while
I slowly drank the glass of water.

Everything was very, very quiet.

At that time it usually is, but these days it is even more so since there
are no motors, air conditioners or background noise.

And suddenly I heard what to me is always a BEAUTIFUL sound, but it was
even more significant last night: a Coqui.

It was, as you can imagine, HEAVENLY MUSIC to my ears.

Also it was music to my soul.

If my layman's information is correct, and please, I am open to
corrections, jajaja, for those of you who may not be familiar with the
"Coqui", the "Coqui" is a very small frog that we call Coqui because of the
melodious sound it sings that phonetically would sound something like
"ko-kee".

Our Coqui is from the Leptodactylidae family of frogs (order Anura), that
includes more than 600 species, most of which are found in South and
Central America.

Within that family there is a small species, "Eleutherodactylus jasperi",
that is restricted ONLY to Puerto Rico. Many attempts have been made to
breed our Coqui out of Puerto Rico. All unsuccessful. All of them. They all
die.

The Coqui is SO Puertorrican it dies outside Puerto Rico.

So I must admit, that last night was more than just hearing a little frog
sound. It's meaning went far, far beyond that.

That, to me, reassuring and beautiful sound meant that even the national
symbol "the coqui, a frog that has become a symbol of Puerto Rico."
(Copyright © 1994-1998 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. - The West Indies,
physical and human geography, the land, Puerto Rico), that the symbol was
still there.

And it had survived this national disaster and it will survive many others.

Needless to say this was VERY significant to me.

And I am sure that all of you feel the same way.

The Coqui, after all, is just barely 3/4 of an inch. Puerto Rico is just 35
by 105 miles. Both are small. But we survive.

It was, believe me, music to my soul.

Tomorrow is the first day of the reconstruction of our land.

And like the Coqui I heard last night, we will endure, we will persist, we
will prevail.

Believe me, I went back to sleep feeling much better.    :)

Gods bless you all

Jorge


Date: Sun, 27 Sep 1998 11:32:55 -0400
From: Jorge L. Belendez (belendez@caribe.net)
Subject: A BIT OF NEWS FROM BATTERED PUERTO RICO - SUNDAY 27 SEP 98.

It SUNDAY 27:

The work and coordination continues. However time also passes and the needs
for the basic necessarily increases.

So the water and food some households had is now consumed and the problem
in some areas where there is just one road becomes more critical. It seems
that now all towns have at least one road open, specially, naturally, the
towns in the center of the Island.

The job of cleaning, although it is going as fast as possible, is also
becoming critical as there are dead animals all over the more affected
areas. This as everybody know constitutes a very distinct health hazard.

Part of the trend of our times is to decentralize corporate structures and
have the decision making more at the lower levels. This same basic
philosophy should be applied to Puerto Rico by empowering the Municipality
with the authority and the resources to deal with this type of natural
disaster.

But this should by no mean stop there, as everyday life can also be
materially improved at the municipality (town) level.

The day after the disaster one Mayor called the National Guard to seek some
specific help (not a major thing) and was asked to write a letter so that
the could provide the service.

Here are some local news that I remember in between the all chores I am
doing. Hope it help a bit:


PUBLIC EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Secretary of Education has indicated a simple rule for the start of
classes; if the school has water there are classes tomorrow Monday, if the
specific school does not have water there is no class in that school.


CAROLINA:
- - - - - -
The Mayor has reported that this municipality suffered more than $100
million in damages and he estimates the private property damage to be in
excess of $65 million.

At one point the persons in the shelters were 217 and that has been reduced
to 64 persons in shelters.

Carolina, reports the Mayor that the distribution of monetary help, in the
form of $1,000 checks THE SAME DAY THAT THE HURRICANE ENDED.

From tomorrow on the Municipal Police will start to serve as a kind of
internal "courier" in that municipality. This now only serves the purpose
of making the procedure more direct, also helps the constituency get more
familiar with the Municipal Police.


The Carolina Municipality government also continues to provide help with all


GUANICA:
- - - - - -
Guanica road #116 is now open.


CULEBRA:
- - - - - -
It has been informed that Culebra has electricity now. The Island of
Culebra did not suffer as much as it did during HUGO. Although by no means
was spared. Actually no part of Puerto Rico was spared.


VIEQUES:
- - - - - -
Also reported to have electricity.


YAUCO:
- - - - -
Suffered quite a bit of damage. Still seems not to have telephone
communication.


The work continues. It is an uphill battle, but it continues.

I will try to write more later.

God bless you all.

Jorge L. Belendez


Date: Sun, 27 Sep 1998 09:51:25 -0400
From: "rafa://puerto rico" (rafapr@sprynet.com)
Subject: Pst-Georges #2

There is a link on el Nuevo Dia's web page (http://endi.com/locales) with the
following title, Restablecimiento de servicios tras el huracán.

It has a rundown of what the current situation is in a good deal of towns. Those
of you looking for specifics on particular towns, might want to check it out.

Date: Sun, 27 Sep 1998 10:16:57 EDT
From: Nypaws@aol.com
Subject: Maricao

Further news from the Montoso area of Maricao as of 25 Sept.  Our casita made
of plywood with a galvanized metal roof was undamaged!  It is backed against a
hilltop  with the front of the house raised up on long poles, and it has two
large unprotected windows which face west toward Cabo Rojo.  It was a miracle
that it was not blown away, and I can only hope that there are many other
casitas all over that have been likewise spared. I have still not been able to
get through on the phone, but have received word through friends who have
called out from the town.  My heart goes out to the people, creatures and
natural world which have been so devastated.  Please make any contributions
you can to appropriate agencies.
 Gaynor Cote'

Earlier reports have been moved to this webpage.

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