Photo By Master Sgt. Chris Botzum | Through the stresses and survival mode following Hurricane Maria, residents of...... read more read more
Subscribe
Members assigned to the 156th Airlift Wing teamed with the Foundation for Puerto Rico to provide food and water to residents of a village inundated during Hurricane Maria, Nov. 25, 2017.
“We live here going day by day,” said resident Christan Lopez. “No food, no power, no water, but the people here are dealing with what they’ve been dealt.”
Walking through the village, Lopez, pointed out the high water line marks left on the walls as evidence of the storm water’s height. The 10-12 feet of water covering the town only began receding a day and one-half after the hurricane moved on.
Leading into the village of less than 300 homes, standing power poles were the exception along the roadway, many broken in three pieces and pushed to the roadside.
“This is the most terrifying storm I’ve been through,” said Miguelina Oliva, a 102-year-old resident of Los Naranjos, a small community north of Vega Baja, Puerto Rico.
Oliva, at the age of 14, was a survivor of the Sep. 13, 1928 San Felipe II Hurricane…a storm in which she lost her mother. San Felipe struck the island as the only recorded category 5 storm, killing more than 300 people on the island.
Working beside the Foundation for Puerto Rico, volunteer Justin McNally, from Long Island, N.Y., piloted coworkers to the island specifically to participate in the distribution effort here.
”What they’ve [Puerto Rican people] been hit with is a true eye opener. What we’re doing, providing water and food to the community, is only a pinprick of the massive needs for the island to recover,” McNally said.
Helping to provide comfort to the victims both in body and spirit, Chaplain Capt. Mireily Rabelo, with the 156th Airlift Wing, joined in on the delivery effort.
“The people need help, we need to listen to their problems,” said Rabelo while on her fifth mission to the community. “The people need hope. It’s just people helping other people…it impacts my heart. My goal is to take care of the military members and care for the people.”
With daily support missions planned for the last week of November, the involvement of the Airman and Soldiers with the National Guard have, and will continue to bolster the vital link the Guard provides for their community.
| Date Taken: | 11.25.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 11.29.2017 09:30 |
| Story ID: | 256659 |
| Location: | MUNIZ AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, PR |
| Web Views: | 26 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Ongoing aid provided to village recovery from Maria, by MSgt Chris Botzum, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT