SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio businesswoman is back from Puerto Rico after hunkering down with family during Hurricane Irma. Less than two weeks later, she’s worried about her family with Hurricane Maria now expected to hit the island as a Category 5.
Karem Merced arrived safely in San Antonio. Irma just missed the island but brought down power poles and trees.
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“We didn’t have electricity for quite a bit, there's some that have no electricity yet,” she said. Many on the island are still without water.
She describes the storm as sounding horrible, “It sounded like a tornado, really ugly and it smells, smells bad like rotten seaweed, rotten fish. You know, it’s lifting everything from the sea,” she said.
Merced said she is praying for her family and friends now bracing for Maria. She is also preparing to send battery-operated fans and batteries because stores have sold out.
“I’m nervous. A little anxious. I still have my family there. My dad. My sister,” she said, as she held her phone, unable to reach them. “There's nothing they can do really, just pray.”
She expects the storm will bring flooding, mudslides and long-term power outages.
