Imagine surviving a devastating hurricane on an isolated island. Then imagine not being able to tell your loved ones you are alive.
Now, imagine your loved ones also went through a different hurricane a week before, and you didn't know if they survived.
That description was reality for the residents of Puerto Rico, according to a Holts Summit man who just returned from there. The island, an American territory in the Caribbean, was virtually destroyed by Hurricane Maria on Sept. 20. American Red Cross - and other Red Cross volunteers from around the world - responded immediately.
Taking time off from his search for employment was Justin Perkins, of Holts Summit, who first went to Houston to help with Hurricane Harvey relief, and then spent three long weeks in Puerto Rico helping people communicate.
He visited with members of the Fulton Rotary this week, along with ARC disaster program manager Kath Mayne. She went to Florida twice after Hurricane Irma.
"Suddenly, we got slammed," Perkins said of the early fall hurricane outbreak. "This was a massive effort on the part of the Red Cross."
A violent season
The 2017 Atlantic hurricane season officially began in June, but the first storm - Arlene - started April 19. The 2017 season won't officially end until Nov. 30. There have been 17 named storms this year, tying it with 1936 as the fifth most-active hurricane season.
Weather officials said it is the costliest season on record, with preliminary numbers exceeding $316.5 billion in damages, thanks mostly to hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria. Of the 17 named storms, six had category 3-plus intensities.
130 mph: Harvey struck Texas on Aug. 26 and hung around Houston, causing intense flooding. Harvey killed 90 people, including 30 in Houston.
185 mph: Two weeks later on Sept. 10, Irma made landfall in the Florida Keys, crossed the Gulf of Mexico and sped toward Marco Island and Naples. It then traveled north into Georgia. Irma killed 134 people, including 90 in the United States. Irma was quickly followed by hurricanes Jose, Katia and Lee.
175 mph: Maria became a tropical cyclone Sept. 16 and a tropical storm six hours later. On Sept. 18, winds doubled from 80 to 160 mph, Category 5 strength. On Sept. 19, wind speed increased to 175 mph. It hit Puerto Rico on Sept. 20 at 155 mph. Nearly every structure on the island of Dominica was damaged or destroyed. On Puerto Rico, the electrical grid failed and all 3.4 million residents were without power - the largest outage in U.S. history, CNN reported. Most of the island is still dark and restoration efforts continue to fail.
San Juan Mayor Yuln Cruz previously said the actual number of Maria-related fatalities may be as high as 500, which indicates an unofficial death toll of 583 overall for Maria, according to news reports.
Reconnecting residents
Although he went to Houston to help those victims, it was his trip to the island that Perkins discussed Wednesday.
"What you want to hear about is Puerto Rico," he said to Rotary members who gathered Wednesday. "Let's talk about their unique situation."
Helping out in Texas and Florida was relatively easy, according to Perkins. Supplies could be driven there. That wasn't so easy for Puerto Rico, which requires a flight of 1,150 air miles.
"It's an island, so it's hard to get resources there," Perkins said. "Getting crews there in the first place is difficult."
Then, there's the terrain.
"What I saw was the mountains," he said. "(Maria) was a Category 4 hurricane there and all the roads were washed out."
Some travel was possible on the outer ring of the island, Perkins said, but going into the steep mountains was hazardous. The highest elevation in Puerto Rico, Cerro de Punta, is 4,390 feet. The island is 100 miles long by 35 miles wide, close to the size of Connecticut. It was covered with debris.
Imagine Connecticut with no highways, electricity and communication, broken houses, tropical insects and heat. That is what ARC volunteers including Perkins faced.
"This made delivering services very, very difficult," he said.
Some mountain residents hadn't yet communicated with the outside world when Perkins arrived. He spent three weeks going to a different village each day, sometimes a difficult three-hour trip. He traveled with other ARC volunteers from places such as Spain and Argentina.
They set up satellite dishes and cellphone charging stations, and helped people tell their families they were alive.
"In one case, there was a woman who broke out in tears," Perkins said. "We got her on a Skype phone to her son in Florida, which had also just had a hurricane. They were able to tell each other they were alright."
The satellites furnished by the American Red Cross wouldn't work in Puerto Rico, so they got different equipment from the International Red Cross. Much of the island's cellular service was down, but people wanted to charge their devices just in case access came back.
"We set up charging stations," Perkins said. "They were always full."
There was no electricity in the mountains - or just about anywhere - but some businesses had generators. Perkins said he remembers pharmacies keeping medications refrigerated by running generators.
"This was five, six weeks after the disaster," he added.
Perkins arrived in Puerto Rico on Oct. 15 and only recently returned.
"I specifically did the satellite programs - I was glorified tech support all the time," he said.
Volunteers went door-to-door asking people if they needed to make a phone call or other help.
"Some people hadn't been out," he said.
Some lucky people had a mode of transportation.
"There were horses all around, in front yards and backyards, and people were riding them."
Perkins and his new Red Cross friends often stayed in dormitories at the University of San Juan. Other times they slept in villages. Warehouses he saw were full of relief items, but delivering them to where they were needed was another matter.
"I saw helicopters and (airplanes) flying daily, but it was hard to get out the call for help," he said. "The relief efforts there were tremendous and the warehouses were packed, later on."
People were appreciative, he added.
"Going out into the cities was cool," Perkins said. "There was a lot less bitterness there, then I thought (about) why it took so long to get there."
Mayne said in Florida, she helped in Gainesville and in the Keys. She added homes in the Keys built post-Hurricane Andrew (1992) mostly withstood the wrath of Irma.
"The Danish Red Cross brought Quonset-type tents," she said of an effort to temporarily house Irma victims. "It was quite amazing."
Back home, local Red Cross workers and volunteers make sure their disaster teams are ready to respond to immediate crisis. They do a lot of work with victims of house fires, Mayne said.
"We can't prevent (disaster), but we have a visceral understanding it can happen," she added.
Mayne works with the Central and North Missouri chapter of the ARC, based in Jefferson City. She is looking for volunteers. To learn more, contact her at [email protected] or 573-635-1132.