Puerto Rico braces for Maria as Brevard residents with connections to island pray, watch

Amid dire forecasts and pleas to prepare, residents across Puerto Rico are sealing themselves in homes and shelters as Hurricane Maria pushes toward the already storm-ravaged U.S. territory.

Throughout Central Florida, where more than a million residents have ties to Puerto Rico, people have been texting, messaging and calling relatives as the monstrous Category 5 storm approaches with 165-mph winds. Others with family and friends from surrounding islands, including the U.S. Virgin Islands, are also watching the terrifying storm as it churns closer by the hour. 

“They’re very scared and they are getting ready as much as they can,” Erika Rodriguez, a Satellite Beach resident said of her family in Puerto Rico. “I have two sisters and a brother, they live in Ponce in the south and Dorado to the north. They’re still dealing with having no power from Hurricane Irma and the flooding."

Maria - which ripped through the small, island nation of Dominica overnight Tuesday - is projected to begin impacting Puerto Rico, with 3.4 million people, and surrounding islands later tonight.

The primary concern for Rodriguez and others is the power and magnitude of Hurricane Maria, including the winds and the torrential tropical rains. Dickson Castro, a Palm Bay resident, talked with his 76-year-old mother who lives in San Juan, on the north side of the island, earlier Tuesday.

“She’s worried. All of the people who are older remember Hurricane Hugo and they know how that turned the island upside down. A lot of the younger people they don’t know the power of the storm,” Castro said.

“The big concern will be the power and the water. You can find nothing in the stores and it doesn’t seem as if the police are doing anything,” he said. His mother is sheltering in place at her home in San Juan. Castro said it is made of concrete with a cement roof.

In​ ​Vega​ ​Baja,​ Puerto Rico, ​residents​ ​like​ ​85-year-old​ ​Amelia​ ​Santos​ ​were​ ​doing​ ​what​ ​they​ ​could​ ​to​ ​get​ ​ready not​ ​just​ ​for​ ​the​ ​storm,​ ​but​ ​the​ ​aftermath.​ ​Santos​ ​told​ ​a​ ​relative​ ​in​ ​Melbourne​ ​that​ ​she​ ​was​ ​able​ ​to get​ ​her​ ​hands​ ​on​ ​a​ ​few​ ​bags​ ​of​ ​ice​ ​to​ ​put​ ​in​ ​her​ ​freezer​ ​in​ ​preparation​ ​for​ ​the​ ​inevitable​ ​power outage​ ​to​ ​come.​ ​

She​ ​was​ ​not​ ​able​ ​to​ ​find​ ​water​ ​but​ ​did​ ​pack​ ​her​ ​medications​ ​and​ ​clothing before​ ​hunkering​ ​down.​ ​“There​ ​is​ ​already​ ​a​ ​shortage​ ​of​ ​food​ ​in​ ​supermarkets,”​ ​Santos​ ​said​ ​to​ ​FLORIDA​ ​TODAY.​

​Santos,​ ​whose​ ​home​ ​did​ ​not​ ​suffer​ ​any​ ​major​ ​damage​ ​with Hurricane​ ​Irma’s​ ​brush​ ​with​ ​the​ ​island​ ​nearly​ ​two​ ​weeks​ ​ago,​ ​said​ ​the​ ​biggest​ ​concerns​ ​are homes​ ​made​ ​of​ ​wood,​ ​loss​ ​of​ ​communication,​ ​loss​ ​of​ ​life.​ ​She​ ​added​ ​that​ ​she​ ​will​ ​lock​ ​herself​ ​in the​ ​room​ ​and​ ​pray​ ​as​ ​the​ ​storm​ ​grows​ ​closer.  

Another island resident, a lawyer with Fort Myers ties named Andrew Kagan, has a concrete block home  in Humacao, Puerto Rico that’s about 50 feet above the ocean. Even the interior walls are made out of concrete, Kagan said. With an expected storm surge of at least 10 feet, Kagan felt secure enough to stay at home for Maria rather than evacuate again without knowing when or how he could return following the devastation. He has enough food and water for at least four weeks. He has boarded up all but one window, saving that for the last minute.

“Puerto Rico, being an island, it’s very isolated,” Kagan said. “It’s not like Florida, where there are a bunch of other states sending down linesmen.

His father, Fort Myers doctor John Kagan, offered to fly him and Gomez out of Puerto Rico on a private plane, but they declined.

“Sometimes, you just have to face the storm that’s coming,” said Andrew Kagan, who left Puerto Rico as Hurricane Irma threatened the island.  

Weather experts say Maria may be the most powerful storm to hit the U.S. territory since 1928. Many Floridians are worried that the one-two punch of hurricanes Irma and Maria, might be too much for Puerto Rico and her neighbors to bear. 

Rev. Israel Suarez's trip back to Puerto Rico was sandwiched between hurricanes. 

Suarez, a founder of Nations Association charity in Fort Myers, was beckoned home when his 98-year-old mother died the day before Irma struck Florida's peninsula, Suarez said. 

He arrived in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, on Thursday, and buried his mother on Friday afternoon. 

On Monday, he left the island to return to Fort Myers. He said he saw the damage left behind by Irma. 

"I left yesterday," Suarez said. "I almost didn't make it out."

Suarez said Puerto Rico has barely recovered from Irma's wrath. 

"I saw the need there is and the desperation," Suarez said. "I am calling my family constantly." 

Raphael Rosado, who moved to the U.S. in 1980, said his family in Puerto Rico is anxious because they haven't been able to find water. Rosado is a pastor at the Faith Center in Fort Myers.

"Everything is chaos," Rosado, 58, said. "It's insult after insult. It's incredulous what is going to happen."

"This is going to be a catastrophe."

Already the U.S. Coast Guard is making preparations to assist once the storm moves out of the area. Alberto Suriel, pastor of the City of Refuge congregation in Palm Bay, is also praying and watching for other islands also, including the Dominican Republic where he has family and Haiti. Both nations are likely to also get impact from Hurricane Maria as cuts through the Caribbean toward the Atlantic.

"I'm thinking of the flooding. My main concern is Haiti," said Suriel. He said those wishing to help should consider contacting those groups and ministries already working in the ground to assist with what will be for some of the islands laborious recovery. Another big fear will be the heavy rains, potential avalanches along the territory's mountains and the potential for flash floods. 

“I was born in Ponce and we’ve had storms before but this is different. My family lives in houses that are cement, so their houses are like bunkers but they still have to watch out for the flooding. The other thing is the power.  They will probably be without power for a long, long time,” Rodriguez said.

Some have already set up alternate means of communication, assuming power outages and downed cell phone services.

A number of Puerto Ricans already fled the island and flights leading to the mainland were packed, family members told Rodriguez, who has lived in Brevard for 19 years.

Sam Lopez, president of United Third Bridge, Inc., said the Brevard-based organization is ready to assist other charities once the storm passes. “People will need canned goods, water, but we will be making assessments to see what else is needed,” Lopez said. He also expects that the economic impact of the storm may send many fleeing an island already facing critical fiscal woes and shortages of services.

“People are scared. You’re talking about a Category 5 storm,” Lopez added.

“That’s huge. And where are people talking about going? Right here in Central Florida, New York, where ever they can.”

Linette Sanchez, David Dorsey and Melissa Montoya contributed to this report.

Contact Gallop at 321-242-3642, jdgallop@floridatoday.com and Twitter at @JDGallop