The Day Before Maria

Hurricane Maria made landfall in southeast Puerto Rico on Tuesday evening, September 19th. We had completed all of our storm preparations in the previous days, and everything was going according to our plan. We had stocked up on food, water, medications, and toiletries. We took out cash at the ATM. The car had a full tank of gas and was parked sideways up against the building to minimize damage from storm surge and flying debris. Prior to Irma I had filled a pack of solo cups with water and piled them all in the freezer. They keep the freezer colder longer and they also provide an extra 3 gallons of drinking water. We filled a tub with water and also a 5 gallon bucket and every pitcher and cup we had. All of the windows were closed and locked, all of our interior doors were closed, and towels were stuffed at the base of our double doors (rain water blew in there during Irma). We shoved our futon mattress into the floor of our closet and packed a day’s worth of food, water, and dog food in there. We were as prepared as we could be. The power was in brownout (not storm related, just because Puerto Rico), but the generator was running so we could watch CNN and local PR news as the storm approached.

At 3pm, there was a knock on our door. Our security guard was frantically telling us (in Spanish) that we had to immediately evacuate our condo. We freaked out. Where in the hell are we supposed to go!? We found our HOA president down at the guard shack. Homeland Security had just rolled in and issued a mandatory evacuation for our entire complex. I asked where they expected us to go, and he said up to the shelter (a school) on the hill. And why is that concrete building any safer than our concrete building down here? “It’s not.” Then why in the hell would I leave? He said homeland security was concerned that our one way road would be blocked and first responders would not be able to reach us. Our response was, “They don’t come anyways!” He agreed. We told him we had plenty of food and water for at least a week and had assumed that our road would be blocked. We were prepared to be on our own. We explained that we weren’t trying to be difficult, and we certainly would leave if there was a valid reason, but we would be separated from our dog at the shelter, and that I wouldn’t be able to eat the food provided there. No freaking way. He then admitted he wanted to stay as well, but his wife wanted to go elsewhere. He told the security guard that we would be staying and asked him to stay until 11pm so we could have power until then. Security would shut off the generator and wouldn’t return until Thursday (if they could), so he showed us how to turn on the generator just in case. At this point we were the only ones refusing to leave.

About an hour later, our downstairs neighbors returned from a trip to San Juan and learned of the evacuation order. They weren’t going anywhere, either. We had storm buddies. I felt so much better. One more family on the first floor also decided to stay. We later learned that they were threatened with a $5000 fine and arrest if they refused to leave. So glad they stood their ground! Around 7pm a speaker truck rolled by announcing that we had to evacuate. We all just stayed put in our condos. The truck just rolled on by.

The guard stayed until 11pm as agreed, and then shut off the generator. Brownout power was enough to run our fan until total blackout, which happened around 2am. Our cell phone signal disappeared at that point as well. We were sleeping in our bed and would move to the closet bunker at 6am when hurricane force winds were expected to arrive. And arrive, they did.