BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Recovery efforts are underway in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Fiona. Flooding and landslides have made it difficult to assess the damage.
Hundreds of miles away from his grandmother, LSU freshman Jorge Bello feels for his loved one.
“I was worried about my grandma, my friends, my family,” said Bello. “She was out of power, she didn’t have water.”
Widespread devastation is the reality in Puerto Rico. Bello says he’s concerned if the island will ever be able to handle natural disasters.
“After the events of Hurricane Maria, you would expect the infrastructure to be better in Puerto Rico, but a category one hurricane felt like a category five,” he said.
Bello was living in Puerto Rico when Hurricane Maria hit and says Hurricane Fiona feels like déjà vu.
“It does give me flashbacks and triggers,” said the LSU student. “I feel like we should have been better prepared after Hurricane Maria.”
In Baton Rouge, the Hispanic community is stepping up and the Catholic Charities are working to send money to those affected.
“Like us, they suffer more than their fair share of hurricanes and disasters. We want to do everything we can to help them,” said David Aguillard, Executive Director of Baton Rouge Catholic Charities Diocese.
President Joe Biden says FEMA and other federal officials are now in Puerto Rico. Residents are dealing with island-wide blackouts and are unaware of when the lights will come back on.
Despite the destruction, Bello says he knows his grandma and homeland are in good hands.
“Puerto Rican family and friends, we might not know each other but we’re still ways united, so you see people helping each other,” said Bello.
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