Puerto Rico family lost everything to hurricane
Several generations of the Sortre family rode out Hurricane Maria in a neighbor’s concrete home, listening to ferocious wind flinging wood and other debris against the roof and hoping it wasn’t pieces of their own wooden houses.
In this Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017 photo, the foundation of a heavily damaged house stands in the mountains after the passing of Hurricane Maria in the San Lorenzo neighborhood of Morovis, Puerto Rico. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Their hopes were crushed when they emerged the morning after the storm passed over their village in the Morovis municipality in the mountains of central Puerto Rico.
“When I saw the house I felt immense sadness because I lost everything I had gained with the sacrifices made over the years,” said Yadira Sortre.
She said her house, her mother’s and those of her siblings were destroyed. “The whole family lost everything,” she said.
Juana Sortre Vazquez sits on her soaked couch in what remains of her home, destroyed by Hurricane Maria, in the San Lorenza neighborhood of Morovis, Puerto Rico, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Since then, she and her neighbors have struggled to get by. The electricity is out and their San Lazaro neighborhood is cut off from the rest of the village of San Lorenzo because a bridge washed away.
Neighbors are helping each other the best they can. People are eating only once a day and drinking a lot of coffee. Some people are sleeping in cars.
Julia Rivera lost part of her house and the school where she normally has a job has been damaged. She said she is thinking about moving off the island.
Two mailboxes are partially buried in mud because of a collapse caused by the rains of Hurricane Maria, in the San Lorenzo neighborhood of Morovis, Puerto Rico, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017. (AP Photo/ Ramon Espinosa)
A teddy bear sits on the the belongings of the Sortre family, their home destroyed by Hurricane Maria, in the San Lorenzo neighborhood of Morovis, Puerto Rico, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
A man carries his son on his shoulders as he wades between a river in the San Lorenzo neighborhood of Morovis, Puerto Rico, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Blanca Rivera and Eduard Rodriguez sleep in their car to protect themselves from the elements, since their house was destroyed by Hurricane Maria, in the San Lorenzo neighborhood of Morovis, Puerto Rico, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
A soaked bed sits in a roam damaged by the passage of hurricane Maria in the San Lorenzo neighborhood of Morovis, Puerto Rico, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Yadira Sortre and William Fontan Quintero pose by what is left of their belongings, destroyed by Hurricane Maria while their children build a room to protect themselves from the elements, in the San Lorenzo neighborhood of Morovis, Puerto Rico, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Ramon Sortre Vazquez, back, drinks coffee next to his brother Angel Luis, next to a flag of the United States in what is left of his house destroyed by Hurricane Maria, in Morovis, Puerto Rico, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Luis Cosme poses sitting in an armchair in what is left of his house destroyed by Hurricane Maria, in Morovis, Puerto Rico, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Luis Cosme walks in the remains of his house destroyed by Hurricane Maria, in Morovis, Puerto Rico, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Angel Luis Sortre Vazquez walks into his sister's house destroyed by Hurricane Maria, in the San Lorenzo neighborhood of Morovis, Puerto Rico, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Two portraits, a hat and a shoe belonging to Luis Cosme litter a wall of his downed house destroyed by Hurricane Maria in the San Lorenzo neighborhood of Morovis, Puerto Rico, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
In this Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017 photo, Angel Rodriguez poses next to his belongings in front of his house, destroyed by Hurricane Maria, in the San Lorenzo neighborhood of Morovis, Puerto Rico. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Salvador Sortre Vazquez , center, and his brother Angel Luis walk on the mountain in the direction of what is left of their house destroyed by Hurricane Maria, in Morovis, Puerto Rico, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. (AP Photo / Ramon Espinosa)
Yadira Sortre and William Fontan Quintero clean their house, destroyed by Hurricane Maria in in Morovis, Puerto Rico, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
A woman washes her clothes with water from the mountain while Ramon Sortre Vazquez walks with his dog, in Morovis, Puerto Rico, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Yadira Sortre and William Fontan Quintero clean what is left of their house, destroyed by Hurricane Maria, in the San Lorenzo neighborhood of Morovis, Puerto Rico, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Julia Rivera gets up from the makeshift bed in the porch of her house as her children sleep, in Morovis, Puerto Rico, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
A cross hangs from a wall that remains of Luis Cosme's house, destroyed by Hurricane Maria, in the San Lorenzo neighborhood of Morovis, Puerto Rico, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Text from the AP news story, Puerto Rico family lost everything to hurricane.
Photos by Ramon Espinosa