AVENTURAS The Day the Earth Raged

I arrived at Lake Carite, in Guayama, Puerto Rico, in the first days of September 2017, to collaborate in the realization of a remodeling and construction project of a tourist center of one hundred cabins located on the shores of the lake.

This lake, which is the largest water reserve on the island, is located between mountains at 1,800 feet above sea level, surrounded by forests and tropical jungle, forming, at that time, a wonderful sight.

It was inhabited by about fifty species of birds plus the usual lizards and “coqui” frogs typical of the island.

The owner placed me in a cabin next to the pool and the restaurant, in a central space of the complex, so that I could carry out my studies and designs. For me it was a good job, like for two years or more and with the possibility of staying, exploiting some of the facilities of the park.

Despite the large size of the tourist center, it did not occupy more than a tiny portion of the coast, shared with other centers and some inhabitants of different characteristics, from people of a good economic level who had their summer houses or mansions there, to the workers. from the area, who lived in huts hidden in the thick of the forest.

A few days after my arrival, there was a strong storm that did not cause major damage, which I supported comfortably in my cabin.

My only human contacts in the area were the owner of the place, who lived very far away, so he only approached a few times, and my friend, who had got me this job, who also did not live there and hoped to get his share of my work...

A few days later we began to receive the news of Hurricane Maria that was forming and seemed to be heading towards Puerto Rico.

Lacking experience in this type of matter, I asked my friend what I should do, whether to find space in a hotel or return to the city, to which he replied not to worry, that the media were exaggerating, that anyway it would not pass close by, and if it did, the cabins would withstand the impact, considering that they had been in the place for forty years and had already endured many hurricanes.

At dawn on the twentieth, the winds began to be felt, along with heavy rains. The forecast had been correct and the hurricane was passing just above where he lived.

It was not yet dawn when the cabin began to shake and a torrent of water from the second floor fell on the first, where it had sheltered me as a precaution.

I took my backpack for emergencies and went to take shelter in my truck, checking that it was hell, the second floor of my cabin had lost the roof and two of the walls and trees, power lines, poles, refrigerators, furniture and other objects They flew like foam rubber.

Visibility was almost zero, the next photo shows what could be seen from inside my vehicle.

Moving was impossible, but staying there was not acceptable either, given the objects falling from the sky.

I advanced with my truck blindly, until a tree fell in front of it and when I tried to push it, the car climbed on the trunk and the wheels were spinning in empty.

I descended and started on foot towards a cabin that was at the beginning of the complex and that, being made of bricks, I hoped would have withstood Maria’s attack.

The wind carried me through the air, things flew and fell around me, “something” hit my face, I knew or believed that I surely had a large wound on my face.

I walked and walked and noticed the strange and utterly terrifying sound the storm was making. It was not the usual noise of a tropical storm, it sounded like thousands of screams of horror …

At the time and as the day brightened, I could see that the wind, with an overwhelming force, took things and twisted them, as if it had claws. Thus, the windows, walls, and ceilings were caught by those giant claws and extracted from their places, and then thrown aside.

All the vegetation was destroyed without distinction, I imagine that the birds all or most of them died.

At last, when I reached my shelter, I noticed that I had lost the roof tiles, but that the rest could provide some shelter. Upon entering, tie the doors to a central column so that they would not be thrown out and nail the windows that were already receiving the extraction effect of the winds.

The rest was to fight against the water that entered and keep the house as a whole as possible. The rain was intense, part of the surrounding mountains collapsed on the only existing road in the place, lasting until dusk, when the phenomenon withdrew eager to other scenarios to destroy. The rain, however, hit us for many days, but that is another story.

Nothing more to add, except that the place, four years later, continues to be abandoned, with most of its resources ruined and the lake itself in emergency conditions due to the collapse of its coasts.

My personal experience is that nature undoubtedly displayed unrelenting fury and unstoppable power. I was not injured in the fight and, on the contrary, my life improved in many ways, not my job, which was lost forever and which, accompanied by subsequent events, continues on indefinite paths.

I believe that most of the birds of the place have disappeared, as well as many plant species. I tried to start a recovery campaign with the neighbors, but it was unsuccessful, they were more interested in their neighborhood fights and political aspirations than in saving the lost paradise.

The group ECA Environmental Civil Action, was left as a spoil of all that attempt, which involved specialists from the USA and attempted response from the Department of Environmental Protection.

It is evident that human interest is focused on buildings and not on nature, which we enjoy and take “for granted.” A lot of ignorance and a lot of selfishness made me leave there with great sadness, nothing could be done.

In my heart are the images of that green land and its crystal clear lake, the springs of pure water … Before I left I scattered thousands of seeds, trees, and plants, I hope that sometime the earth will take them and germinate them, no one will know who sowed them … but they are there …

Sentinel