I survived Hurricane Irma!
- Sep 9, 2017
- 5 min read
My last blog post was that of despair when I was waiting for the arrival of Hurricane Irma. The forecast going into Wednesday was rather dire and one that I just wanted to ignore but couldn't. While we were expecting winds of up to 80mph, but we had a chance to experience winds double that. I said to myself, "It is what it is and whatever happens, I have to accept it. This experience might just change my life and teach me something." The worse that could happen is that I lose everything and that would be a huge setback for my writing as I was gaining momentum with my titles. So I went back to bed or at least tried to do so. While I managed to get a few hours of sleep the day the hurricane was set to hit, I was still very tired after all the prepartions I had made the previous days.
Above was the track of Irma, as you can see all of Puerto Rico was under a Hurricane Watch and in the dangerous cone of uncertainity. The Hurricane force winds were about 50 miles from the center and Tropical Force winds were about 175 miles from the center, so we were going to take a hit. The only question was, how bad would it be? At that moment I would have to just wait and see. When I still had power, I was watching the news watching my friends in Culebra and especially Fajardo where my neighbors husband is from get hit hard by Irma. At this point I was nervous as the storm still hadn't reach Salinas where I reside on the south shore of the island.
It was three o'clock and I still haven't lost power, but was prepared to lose power anyway. I began to feel a bit more confident when I saw the power was still on, however that would change in the next hour. At around 4:45 PM the power went out and that's when I said, "It's game time! Irma is on her way after all." I had dinner with my parents and now I had no idea how the rest of the island was doing. Everybody in my community had went inside to ride out the storm, so it was just me and my parents from here on out. We still had water thank goodnes, so at least I would be able to keep clean for a while.
Around 7 at night that is when Irma began to show her wrath, even where I live. The winds would pick up, rain began to fall heavily, and it turned pitch black outside without the lights illuminating the area. All we had were flashlights and some religious candles that I use to pray at night as a medium. At first we actually enjoyed the fresh air coming in through the window and I nearly fell asleep on the sofa with the fresh air. Of course that would be too easy and Irma would get even worse. The winds picked up big time, up to 80 mph and I found it harder to get to my friends on social media with the lack of signal. The kitchen and living rooms became too dangerous to hang out. That meant my biggest fear came true, which was to have to spend the night in the dark bathroom with no where to rest. The bathtub was hard as a rock and the winds were roaring louder than a lion.
It was hard to just sit there and remain calm while outside the scene was chaotic and I heard things being carried around. At times the wind was so bad the window sounded like it was going to break and those winds of destruction would break into my house. I went to wash my face as I knew it would be a long night, only to find out that the water was gone. Now the worse case scenario was coming into place, I was stuck in a house with no light and no water, only the water I was smart enough to gather before the storm. To make the long story short, I got no sleep and it was a night of hell for me.
All I can think about was my memories from High School, when I met my first girlfriend, and how we just had fun with out lives. You know what? That is how I was able to get through the storm and I was able to be brave enough to ride the storm out.
The next morning I was dead tired and barely had the energy to move, but somehow I was able to keep going. God had given me the ability to get up after the punishment and help my fellow neighbors. The light and water was still out, but that didn't matter. I had survived Irma and despite rain falling down for most of the day, here in Salinas we were spared the worse of the storm. Trust me this was one scary experience and one that I would not wish upon my worst enemy. I had no contact with social media still and when I did, it was very limited. I will say one thing, it was hot and it was a hard day just thinking about possibly another punishing night without the AC and water. Around noon time though the water had come back. So I figured the electricity would be next to come back, but sadly it did not.
I began to read paperback versions of my own book to pass the time and at around 7 at night my wish had come true. The lights came back and I would be able to sleep well that night. While my internet did not return right away, I could care less about that. What was important was that I had survived Hurricane Irma. God answered my prayers and I'm glad to be a survivor. This will be a story I will be able to tell my kids and grandkids in the future.
All I need now is a T-Shirt like this!
While I'm grateful that I survived this ordeal, others in Puerto Rico were not as lucky especially in the northeast portion of the island. 10 people did not make it at all and those families will have to endure great pain for a long time coming. As a result I decided that I will make my bestseller status on Amazon work for others besides myself. From today until next week, I will donate 75% of my book sales to a local charity here in Puerto Rico and the other 25% will be to help myself, my aunt, and people who might need my help in my community. So if you like to read a good book, whether it be Sci-Fi, Horror or a Political Thriller please grab one, two, or all my books on Amazon. You will be helping people in Puerto Rico who did not have the same luck as I did. Thanks so much for reading and below are the links to my books if you're interested.
Links to my books:
The Thousand Years War Series (Sci-Fi/Videogame/LitFPS genres): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071F1BM8S/
Angel's Nightmare Advenure Series (Horror/Videogame Series): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074ZDK8GQ/
Janus: The Devil's Election (Political/Spy Thriller): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XBQPR17
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