The Aftermath of Maria - Day 3
It’s Saturday, September 23rd. We have running water. No power, no cell signal. The generator in B is running, so we can charge our devices once a day. The ocean is still brown. There’s still no breeze. We’ve seen large container ships coming in on their way to San Juan. Pierre walked to the Econo supermarket at 7am. He said there was some food, no water, and the only bread available was fresh baked and there was a huge line to get it. The store was still cash only. Maria and Luis headed out to San Juan today – we are super hopeful they find a cell signal so they can get our message to my Dad that we are okay! Our floors are mostly dry now, and there’s still a drip coming from the ceiling.
The maintenance crew arrives, and it’s one guy walking around picking up debris. We cooked beans for lunch on our propane stove, and Pierre came up to make soup. I went downstairs and hung out with Pierre outside of the condo in B in the shade, and still got super sunburned. Chris came over to talk with us. She is desperate to leave and is trying to figure out a way to get off the island. She heard that Isabela will lose water soon. I invited her to join our circle later in the evening.
Pierre and Yadira’s kids came up and hung out with us in our condo in the afternoon. Surprisingly, Lucy did not try to eat them. The kids love our view and like to use our binoculars. They also like our stash of junk food. Of course we let them raid it.
Gustavo comes home and has lots of news to share. He and his wife are doctors, and they have access to information through a network of first responders. He reports that diesel should arrive in Isabela by Tuesday, and that there are 200+ people in line for $10 of gas right now. He says fast food restaurants are open on Calle 2 and accepting credit cards (we learned days later that only Burger King is open and it’s cash only). Gustavo says there is plenty of food on the island, and that AT&T is working hard to restore cell signals. He then says it will be months before we have power. And that’s not even the big news. The most alarming news is that the dam at Guajataca might break. We are far enough away that there is no flood risk for us, but that is the reservoir for our drinking water. If the dam breaks, Isabela will lose running water – for months. Since we had not seen any FEMA or Red Cross help as of yet, I asked how we would get water. Gustavo says we have a cistern here at our condo that holds enough water to sustain all of us for at least a month if we ration it properly, but the pump and generator are both broken that get the water out of the ground. My mind is racing with possible ways to get water out of that cistern. But what about everyone in town? He says an oasis will be brought in, which is a tanker truck full of potable water. People stand in line with containers and get water that way. At least it’s something, but to me that sounds like hell on earth. At least the dam news explained why so many helicopters and planes had flown over and around our area today.
Luis and Maria arrive back from San Juan. Thankfully Luis’ family is okay. They said roads were challenging but passable. Maria was able to place one phone call to her sister back in the states! Maria gave our list of numbers and messages to her and now her sister will call everyone on the list. We all breathe a sigh of relief – at least our family and friends will know we are safe. It only took 3 days to get that message out.
Circle is from 5p to 8p in the dark with all the BUGS. We are all covered in bug bites all the time now. All of the cold food is gone, so we only have the last of the French fries and some fresh coconut to eat. Vodka and cigarettes did make it, though LOL! David, Nick, and Chris all share their stories from staying in the shelter during the storm. They tell us about homeless people wandering around, a singing guy with a guitar, people screaming, and shelter volunteers walking around at 9:30pm trying to feed people hot soup. Nick says he listened as the winds tore the roof off the gym – just peeled it up like a can opener. Yeah, we are SO glad we stayed put in our condo! They all agreed they should have stayed, too.
We went upstairs and took cold showers in the dark (because we might lose our water anytime now!). Jason and I discuss our future in Puerto Rico. Living without power sucks, but it’s doable for now. We cannot live without water. We were hopeful we could escape to the states briefly until things stabilize, and then come back and finish our lease through next April, but that is looking less and less likely. So sad. We love our neighbors! We are all family now.