Woman faces second Cat 5 hurricane in two-week span
Isabel Borras, 60, a college counselor at Atilles School in St. Thomas, was rescued from the decimated island after surviving a direct hit from Hurricane Irma and taken by commercial boat to Puerto Rico with a group of other refugees. Now, as she makes preparations for Hurricane Maria in Guaynabo — the second Category 5 storm she’ll face in two weeks — Borras told the Herald’s Owen Boss about how living through Irma’s wrath has prepared her for whatever Maria can dish out.
I decided to stay in St. Thomas for Irma, but thank God I decided to leave my apartment because it was destroyed, my belongings were destroyed and my car was destroyed. Thank God someone offered me refuge so I could be safe . ... But things got a little complicated because the person who offered me refuge, her 120-pound Rotteweiler bit me, so I ended up in the hospital the night before the storm getting stitches . ...
Luckily, after the storm, I have good friends who look out for me and they let me know there was a boat coming from Tortola with 18 refugees. And they stopped and picked me up in St. Thomas and brought me to Puerto Rico because the roof blew off of the only hospital in St. Thomas and the wounds I suffered were getting infected . ...
We spent today and yesterday getting ready for Maria, which is a Category 5, and believe me, after living through a Category 5 on a tiny island like St. Thomas, I feel completely safe here in Puerto Rico . ... People are very scared because nobody has lived a Category 5 in Puerto Rico . ...
It’s amazing, two weeks ago today I had moved to a house (in Puerto Rico) to be safe from Irma. Now I’m one of the few people who will be able to say they’ve lived through two Category 5 storms in two weeks . ...
People are extremely worried, they’re very scared, because they’ve never been through something like this. I’m telling people if you’re safe in your house, if you have a cement roof and you protect your windows, you’re going to be fine. Just get boarded up, get enough water, get enough food and you’re going to be OK . ...
Puerto Ricans, we are incredible in times of need. When everything happened in St. Thomas and St. John, you should see how many people went all the way over there in private boats to bring supplies and bring back people who needed help. And when it happens to us, we can expect the same kind of support from them in return.