The Aftermath of Maria - Day 1

Thursday morning, September 21st, we woke up to light rain and winds. No power, no generator, no cell signal, no internet, and our water was not working. The pressure drop caused by the hurricane had given me a migraine, but so far it was manageable. Jason walked down and took photos and video around our condo complex, while I hung out on the stairs with our neighbors Yadira and David. Luis and Pierre set off on foot and walked up into town. Talking with neighbors quickly became the new internet. We learned that Luis had keys to a condo in Building C. We planned to turn on C generator so we could at least charge our devices once a day since the generator for our building was blown off its platform. I told Jason, “We are storm people now.” We were those people you see on the news after a storm walking around in flip flops with wet hair and wet clothes (from rain and from sweat). And everyone around us looked just as glamorous.

Our HOA president arrived around 10am on a bicycle. He lives in Building C and informed us that the generator for that building was broken before the storm. We’ll have to find another way to get access to electricity. We saw a small bulldozer arrive around this time clearing debris out of the road, but it did not clear the downed power poles or palm trees. Luis and Pierre returned from their walk up the road into town and told us Villa Pesquera is full of downed trees and debris. Locals had already found a way to drag one of the palm trees out of the road, and built a ramp so cars could drive onto the beach around the poles and then cut back over onto the road. Luis sent me over to sit with Maria in her car. The governor was supposed to speak at 11am, and I could sit in the A/C while we listened. Maria speaks Spanish and English so she could translate for us. We waited and listened until 11:45am, but the governor never came on.

We all agreed to meet in the parking lot with our beach chairs at 1:30pm for a BBQ. Frank was clearing out his freezers from his restaurant in Villa Pesquera since all the food was going to spoil without power. Everyone brought beer, sodas, chips, and fruit down to share. We had hot dogs, burgers, french fries, and we even had ice for drinks! I drank a ginger ale with ice – knowing that I may not have ice in a drink again for a long time. Luis turned on the stereo in his Jeep so we had music. All day we had helicopters flying overhead from the nearby air force base in Aguadilla. We waved from our giant circle of chairs. We joked that they would never show this on the news – just hours after the hurricane and we are having a giant block party BBQ with hot food and iced beverages! In the circle we all learned that Maria’s birthday was yesterday – the day Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico. How crazy is that!? She and Luis did a shot out on their balcony during the storm to celebrate.

Later in the afternoon we learned that the generator in Building B had fuel and was in working order. There was only one condo occupied there, and the people living in that condo would not agree to let the rest of us use their outlets. In their defense they did not speak Spanish or English, but we were still surprised they would not help the rest of us. Fortunately a couple arrived to clean out the water from their condo in Building B but did not plan on staying, and Luis and Maria worked their magic and secured keys to that condo. We had found way to charge our devices! We could also use the freezer there to extend our food for the next few days. The generator would run just enough to keep the freezer cold to conserve diesel, since no one knew when the refuel truck would have access to more fuel or be able to access our complex due to debris in roads.

At 4pm our water was restored. My migraine was getting worse, so I didn’t mind when the sun set at 6pm and everything went pitch black dark. I did the best I could laying in bed with no fan or A/C in the heat and humidity while enduring a migraine. The hurricane stole our wind. The breeze was gone. I didn’t sleep much, and I could see lightning from the south side of the hurricane out over the ocean all night.