Gaspar, El Lugareño
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September 8
I was talking to (...) today and the resorts were evacuated Sept 7th in Santa Lucia. The military is watching over them. One fellow who works at Caracol stayed till about 4 pm. It was getting to dangerous so he left too. The tourists were evacuated to hotels in Camaguey. I got a text message at 11:13 pm Sept 7th saying the hurricane was in Camaguey now and the message said it is very scary.
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At 5am this morning I got a text message from (...) saying that her and her family were still up and couldn't sleep from the winds, she said her window broke, and she was very scared... I haven't heard from anyone else, other then (...) who said that they were very scared in their village as theyre houses are not prepared to handle these winds.
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I just spoke to (...). The huge front door had the 3 bolts torn off it. Those of you that have been there know how big those bolts are and the door blew open. The other huge double doors were damaged some too. He is missing a lot of roof tiles and water leaked in. He said they are all OK and it is still raining very hard. His gate out back is rattling still from wind but it is not as windy as it was through the night. There is dirt blown into the rooms and he said it is like the Mayanabo pool is very close to him, there is so much water.
He said he has never experienced a hurricane this bad ...
He also said he doesn't want to think about the homes near the beach. He cannot reach anyone that lives there yet by phone. His cell and land line are in tact so far. We had a very clear connection.
The hardest thing for them is not only the money needed to make repairs but getting the materials to do so. There will be a huge shortage now. Roof shingles/tiles are hard to get at the best of times. Now there will be a huge need for them.
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September 9
September 9
OK folks.... I was just taking to (...). He spoke with a security guard that just came back from Santa Lucia.
This is what I was told 5 minutes ago.
Rumbas is gone. the only thing left is the iron bars.
The hotel Tararoco has been pretty much wiped out by the ocean coming in.
The dining room at Mayanabo is a mess.... all the glass walls are blown out and there is much water and wind damage. Mayanabo has the least amount of damage but still major damage. Some of the a/c units are gone from Mayanabo (the big industrial ones). The palm trees behind the lobby desk are now on the desk.
Almost all the rooms in Brisas are totally gone. It is the closest to the ocean so more damage.
There are no street lamps left in Santa Lucia , all gone like they vanished.
There are 17 rooms missing from Caracol.
The airport in Camaguey is in ruins I hear. No flights will be going in there till they get it fixed. Still no hydro. Its hot and sunny again there.
So it doesn't look like any of us will be visiting Santa Lucia for awhile.
Stay Positive.
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September 10
September 10
...'s house lost the roof but he is OK. His home is not at the beach area though, it is near Minas. which is closer to Camaguey. We can't get ion touch with people from the beach because there is no phone service and they have been evacuated.
