On September 20, 2017 around 5:30 a.m., I woke to a phone call from my mother about hurricane Maria.

“Maria is not here yet but the winds and water are starting to pick up rapidly; we are fine but we might lose communication soon so wait to hear back from me.”

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I have to say, hearing those words come out of my mother was an emotional shock to me, she is never scared and in that moment she was. After that I could not go to sleep therefore I walked to my living room and turned the news on, as I saw what has been my home since I was young, crumble to pieces and become unrecognizable.

Throughout the day I was enveloped in my thoughts and all I could think of was: what is happening? How are my loved ones? Will there be an earthquake or tsunami after the hurricane? I then called my friends who are away from school as well and we were instantly bonded through the same emotions and thoughts, all of us anxious to hear from home.

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Around 4 p.m. that day, the phone rang and I jumped to answer it. My mom was calling to tell me that she and the family were okay and that they were going outside to check the damages (even though they were advised to stay in until Saturday). After the call dropped, I called my best friend to check up on her family; with a heavy heart she told me that her family was twenty seconds away from getting killed. To hear those words made everything real, before I was convinced I was in a dream and with a pinch I would wake up and it would all be over.

 

Late that night, my mom called me and said she went to our apartment and that the storm shutters came off, the windows broke and the apartment was flooded. As she said that, my heart sank because if she would have stayed there instead of seeking protection elsewhere like she did, she would be injured or dead right now.

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Days have gone by now and people have been able to go outside and see what Maria did, with a sore in their hearts, those close to me have said that everything around them looks like a war zone. What they called home is now destroyed and unrecognizable and conditions are worsening. The food is beginning to run out, flashlights and batteries are scarce and drinkable water is a nuisance to find.

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Therefore, with three major hurricanes in less than a month, I think it is safe to assume that Mother Nature is very mad at us. We should try and conserve it as best as we can by recycling and finding more biodegradable resolutions. If not, more homes and lives will be lost as more natural disasters begin to occur. Hurricane Maria is something Puerto Rico will have to build back up from for months. If there is anything you can do to help, you should because no one should have to know the feeling of losing it all.