N.Y.ers pitched in for big rescue effort

A bleak picture of a washed-out bridge near the mountain village of Utuado that appeared in the Daily News after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico last September brought a rush of hope to many families across the country. As soon as the shot appeared on The News’ website, messages began pouring in from readers desperate to find relatives trapped on the storm-tossed island, which had lost almost all its communication with the outside world.

Many of them recognized the distinctive bridge in the picture, taken by the FDNY to showcase the work of the city’s Urban Search and Rescue Team, a federally trained crew of firefighters and cops who are flown all over the world to help survivors of natural disasters.

Capt. Liam Flaherty was in Utuado when The News passed along the pleas for contact. One of them was a request to find a woman named Carmen, then 86, with limited vision and a heart condition, along with her daughter Enid and their dog. “Yellow house, on the corner in la capillary,” said the text. “Dog’s name is Cholo!” So Flaherty and his team went searching, looking for Carmen, Enid and Cholo (photo).

“We had scores of sheets like that, names of people to check on. We have such a strong connection, New York and Puerto Rico, I was getting all kinds of texts like that: ‘Can you please go check here and here,’ ” Flaherty said. He recalled finding the yellow house and the women, but neither was ready to leave. A year later, The News found Carmen and Enid living in Ohio — with Cholo, too.