Paradise Hills man says loved ones ‘lost everything’ to Hurricane Otis
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SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — A Paradise Hills man says two of his family members ‘lost everything’ to the destructive winds of Hurricane Otis.
“It looks like a combat zone” said Eduardo Fuentes-Balderrama. “I was scared, concerned.”
For Fuentes, the images left behind by Hurricane Otis are wrenching.
Fuentes has dozens of family in Acapulco and Costa Grande, a seaside town about two hours to the north.
Amid widespread power outages, he has yet to learn if they’re okay.
“Most of my family, we don’t know about them. They don’t have internet access, so we don’t know what’s going on with them,” said Fuentes.
He has learned the impact on his uncle and aunt, who run a sea turtle habitat in Costa Grande, an undertaking that’s been in the family for some five decades.
“The infrastructure has collapsed, literally, has collapsed. The buildings, the huts, everything has come down,” said Fuentes.
In a pile of debris is his aunt and uncle’s home, a restaurant, and various habitat buildings. None of it was insured.
“Shoes or clothes, they lost everything they have. Everything. It’s painful see what they have to go through,” said Fuentes.
As for the fate of the sea turtles, most of the eggs had already hatched, the turtles released. Fuentes learned the remaining buried eggs were not impacted.
As Fuentes waits for word about his other family and friends, he knows the road back will be a long one.
“I don’t have the words to describe it. You see that they’re suffering, and I’m so far away,” said Fuentes. “To build it up, it takes a lot, because there are no resources. The money isn’t there. Everything little bit they lose, it’s going to take years to come back from that.”
Fuentes says his family are the most resilient people he knows, and he knows they will rebuild.
He’s set up a Gofundme campaign has been set up to help with the rebuild.
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