Seminole volunteers return after Puerto Rico relief effort

A couple with a baby who cried tears of joy after receiving a package of bottled water. An elderly woman covered with sores from sleeping on floors since her home was destroyed.

Such scenes from Puerto Rico are fixed in the minds of law-enforcement officers from the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, Sanford and Oviedo police departments.

“Physically I’m here, but my heart right now is still over there because there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done,” Oviedo Police Officer Jose Zabala said Wednesday.

The officers shared their experiences a little more than a week after teams of local law enforcement returned from assisting with relief efforts on island, which was ravaged by Hurricane Maria.

The agencies knew volunteering to help was “the right thing to do,” Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma said. Agencies heard from their own residents who had family in Puerto Rico — including the officers and deputies who went.

State Rep. Bob Cortes, R-Altamonte Springs, organized the relief mission. Teams left for Puerto Rico on Sept. 27 and returned in groups Oct. 1-2.

The officers who went were: Lt. Miguel Sierra, Deputy Sheriffs Hector Figueroa, Hunter Corchado and Lilliam Agrinsoni of the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office; Zabala of the Oviedo Police Department; and Officer Ricardo Ayala of the Sanford Police Department.