INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – A central Indiana woman is still waiting to hear from her family in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria caused widespread damage, flooding and power outages.
“It’s nerve-racking,” Milagros Hawley said. “I haven’t been able to eat very much in the last few days because I haven’t heard from them in more than 48 hours.”
Hawley was visiting the island last week but decided to cut her trip short due to the hurricane. She said she wanted to make sure she was able to return to be with her kids in Avon, Indiana.
“I decided I better take off and leave the island before anything happens and I’m glad I did because right now everybody is basically trapped on the island,” Hawley said.
As she saw images of the storm’s impact, the worry about her family set in.
“I just want to know that they are safe, that nobody is in the hospital,” Hawley said. “Especially my mom because she has very nervous before the storm.”
Every time Hawley tries to call her relatives, she gets a busy tone or a message stating the call cannot be completed at this time.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Hawley said. “There’s no power, phones aren’t working.”
The only communication Hawley has had with people on the island is one text message from her nephew and a picture of her brother’s house, which is now destroyed. She said she learned the several of the bridges going into her town have also been destroyed.
Hawley said she is reaching out to other Puerto Ricans on Facebook in hopes of getting any updates about her relatives.
“I’m hoping and crossing my fingers that today will be the day that I hear something,” Hawley said. “The only thing I can do is wait.”