Photo By William J Blankenship | Grayshel Gutierrez gazes looks down the street off of the stairs to her family home in...... read more read more
“At first, before Irma, we were scared and nothing happened. Then, when Maria came, we were just like, ‘Oh, this is nothing again; we are going to be just fine…whatever, but that was not true.”
Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, making landfall Sept. 20, 2017.
The Category 4 storm was the strongest to hit the Island of Enchantment in 85 years, destroying structures, uprooting trees and flooding many areas of the mainland.
San Juan native Grayshel Gutierrez, and her family, survived the onslaught of the storm, but are still navigating their way toward normalcy in the aftermath.
“The storm lasted for more than 24-hours, but it seemed like an eternity,” Gutierrez said. “Maria was very serious about it – she was mad with the universe!”
According to the National Weather Service, the hurricane brought sustained winds of 155 miles per hour, just short of maintaining Category 5 status as it unleashed its force over the island.
“I remember how loud it was during the storm,” Gutierrez said. “I rode the storm out with my friend who lived in a safer location, and we could barely hear ourselves speak. Once it was over and we went outside, we were just like ‘Oh my God.’ There was only silence. It was hard, very difficult during the storm, and maybe worse afterwards.”
As Gutierrez ventured out through the wreckage, she eventually made it to her family home, or what was left of it. Originally owned by her grandfather, the Bayamon home sadly was unable to withstand the force of Maria.
“I couldn’t reach my mom on the phone, so I went to her house and everywhere else that she could be and left hand written letters hoping she would find them,” she said. “It was four days, knowing nothing about her. I didn’t know if she had made it one way or the other. Finally, we found each other here, at my grandfather’s house that now belongs to her.”
Dramatic and emotional were the choice words describing the reuniting of daughter and mother. Initially, reported fatality numbers hovered near 50 following Maria, but that number has recently been updated to nearly 500. The Gutierrez’s were fortunate to emerge intact.
“I still get emotional thinking about what could have been and how I felt leaving letters everywhere, just hoping they were going to be found by my mother,” Gutierrez said. “It was fitting to find her at my grandfather’s home. While it may look really bad now, this place is significant to my family. It was always full of people laughing and family spending time together; playing games like dominoes almost every day.”
Family gatherings would currently be spreading their laughter to the stars, as the home no longer includes a roof. The sustained 100 mile per hour winds ripped the cover off of the structure, exposing everything inside to the elements. Family photos, home decor and memories are still, weeks into the island’s recovery efforts, scattered throughout the bones of this family home.
Official reports indicated that more than 30 inches of rain fell on Puerto Rico, and into the Gutierrez residence, in one day. The tornado-like winds swirled Gutierrez’s childhood memories around the dwelling, ruining everything that was exposed to the elements.
“My mother doesn’t want to go in there anymore,” Gutierrez said. “It’s too painful for her. She may never go back inside the family house, and it will stay just as it is. She’s definitely moving out. ”
Life changed for Gutierrez since Maria devoured her life. She worked at a small restaurant prior to the storm, but that business no longer exists either. She was left jobless for over a month as she tried to rebound from the hurricane.
Self-admitted, Gutierrez was scared of how she would survive without any income. Within weeks of the hurricane, she had gone through all of her savings and, like many other locals, was unable to provide for herself.
Recently hired to work a new part-time job at a restaurant in San Juan, Gutierrez feels fortunate and hopes things will trend toward a semblance of normal for her, but she admits things may never be exactly the same for her and her family.
“We were always a close family, but now we are closer,” she said. “For me, I’m still trying to just breathe a little bit. I mean, all of my life just changed. I’m trying to stay focused and trying to be positive. Money may be different, location of family may be different, but maybe it can also be good. I don’t know yet.”
During the recovery process, the Gutierrez family received a boost during their time of need from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, along with thousands of others on the island. Personally, she received a few hundred dollars for food, a small lifeline during a time her bank account had nothing left.
The agency has awarded more than $500 million for survivor assistance, emergency work, and debris removal following hurricanes Irma and Maria.
"We are so thankful for not only FEMA, but the military, and other people who have come here to help us,” she said. “Everything isn’t back to normal yet, and it will be a long time before it is. Some things happen for a reason. Maybe, in this case, Maria gives me the opportunity to do something else, something different.”
For information on Hurricane Maria relief efforts, visit https://www.fema.gov/disaster/4339.
| Date Taken: | 11.17.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 11.17.2017 09:24 |
| Story ID: | 255668 |
| Location: | SAN JUAN, PR |
| Web Views: | 273 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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