DORAL, Fla. — Some South Florida residents who have kin in storm ravaged Puerto Rico relayed their problems about their cherished kinds Tuesday as they labored to recuperate from Hurricane Fiona, which battered the island.
The Class 1 storm seriously damaged the island’s power grid and remaining a lot more than 1 million individuals in the dark.
Melissa Williams, who lives in Doral, reported her mother and father, Maria and Felipe Williams, dwell in Toa Baja on the north coast of Puerto Rico, which is a 30-moment travel from San Juan.
Williams claimed she was not able to attain her aged moms and dads and was very worried about their basic safety for the reason that her 69-yr-aged father has problems walking and his eyesight is minimal.
“When I was seeking at the news and I noticed a large amount of flooding, I was very involved mainly because they stay so near to the seaside,” Melissa Williams mentioned. “I was anxious that they experienced a great deal of flooding. I was apprehensive that they were being trapped in drinking water somewhere and I couldn’t get ahold of anyone. I experimented with calling them and there was almost nothing.”
She explained she grew much more frantic.
“I experimented with repeatedly to cellular phone them,” Williams reported. “I referred to as them non prevent and the cellphone just went to voice mail. I was so worried and I was so terrified. My heart beat so speedy. All these views arrived to head that they were harm.”
Yalynn Marques-Williams and her relatives shared their considerations about her family’s safety on CBS4’s Fb site.
“We lost get hold of with them on Saturday afternoon,” Marques-Williams mentioned. “We were not in a position to reach them for about 48 several hours. When we tried using their cell cellular phone we were not ready to depart a voice mail concept. It was just lifeless area.
“We have been quite anxious because they are more mature and they are by yourself over there,” she explained. “We had been truly concerned about obtaining them support soon after the flooding.”
Amid all those problems, CBS News correspondent David Begnaud spoke to her mother and father.
The minute was captured on digital camera when Begnaud and his camera crew saw Maria Williams by a gate outside her household.
“They knew we have been in the space so they said, ‘We’ll go verify on them. I explained, ‘Sure,'” he mentioned. “They just needed to know you are are alright.”
Maria Williams stated they ended up Ok.
Melissa Williams looked at the video from CBS News.
“My coronary heart burst,” she mentioned. “I cherished viewing that that she is Okay and their dwelling just isn’t weakened or anything. I am genuinely satisfied to see her. It is comforting to see her. It is comforting to see the online video and I am so glad. And when I heard the CBS Information correspondent was examining, I assumed this was just wonderful. He is likely all over looking at how men and women are and seeing that all the things is Ok. I appreciate this. I am tremendous relieved but I think individuals in Puerto Rico nonetheless need to have assistance from every person.”
The storm remaining quite a few of the island’s resident reeling.
“I imagine it is terrible and seriously unhappy what occurred,” Williams mentioned. “I you should not consider individuals had been truly geared up for it. I think they believed this was likely to be a tropical storm as a substitute of a hurricane.”
Yalynn Marques-Williams added, “I am so grateful that they are alright. It would seem men and women on the island are resilient. They just take a licking and hold on ticking. They comprehend what will come with the territory and they do not budge.”
