In mid-December 1999, my sister María Teresa, a teacher, retired from the Ministry of Education, was very affectionate, with a strong character in the face of any adversity. She lived on the Litoral, in La Guaira, Macuto, in a house in a housing estate called "Las Quince Letras".
One day at ten o'clock in the morning I phoned her and asked her: "How are you, together with your daughters Eunice, María Enriqueta (Mary), your husband Iván and your son Hermes Samuel". A little emotional, she replied: "We are all well and everyone is at home today, except my son Hermes Vicente, how is my mother and my brothers and sisters? "I am happy, we are all well." She added: "Here in Macuto it has been raining since last night with hurricane force winds and there has been no electricity since yesterday. And even today it is still raining with electrical discharges and the electricity is not coming `` I told her: "Be careful, take precautions. You are near the coast. Suddenly, the line went dead. I insisted: "Hello, hello" and I never heard from them again.
In the evening we heard that there had been a storm in the state and that human lives and physical structures had been lost. Despair and hopelessness began to grip me, my mother and siblings. The phone lines were jammed because of the storm.
The next day I called my cousin Zuleima, who lived in Caracas, in the Santa Inés housing estate, to see if she had contacted María Teresa. She replied: "I still haven't been able to get in touch with her". She burst into tears: "I only have one hope, my son Gustavo, who is at the airport in Maiquetía, told me that they are evacuating people, especially children and the elderly". My heart was beating fast, like the second hand of the clock. I also burst into tears at the thought that, in that storm, my sister and her family might disappear, and between sobs I added: "If you have any news, let me know. My mother was sitting next to me. With trembling hands, she hugged me and we cried for a long time, thinking only of the worst. But as my mother and I have always been faithful believers in God, we hoped it wouldn't be like this.
My brother Hernán and Miguel came to my house and their faces were as pale as the pallor of the magnolia blossom, their voices cracked, and they asked in duet: "Have you had no information about my sister and her children? I replied, "No! I invited them to sit down and say a prayer to God, asking that nothing bad would happen to them during that storm. We prayed for a long time.
That same day, Zuleima informed me by phone: "Gustavo told me that Maria Teresa and her grandson Hermes Samuel are already at the airport in Maiquetia, that they arrived in a helicopter with other elderly people and children, and that in a few minutes they will leave for Caracas in a small plane. They are on their way to La Carlota air base. I asked her: "What about the others?" "We don't know anything," she said: "I'm going with my husband to La Carlota airport to meet María Teresa.
Around seven in the evening the phone rang, my mother was calling me: "Ramona, Ramona, run, run! I was in the courtyard of the house, I ran out and managed to get through to my cousin: "Tell me, what happened?" "Don't worry, thank God, María Teresa and her grandson are already at my house, I'll put her on the phone, : very excited, she says to me: "Ramonita, ¿How are you...? Crying doesn't let her speak "¡Calm down, here's mum!" Leonides with trembling hands picks up the phone, and says to her: "God bless you, daughter, I knew that Our Lord Almighty would bring you back safe and sound!" "Thank you mum for those words that make me stronger, what happened was a storm that devastated most of this state! "What about your children?" "They have to come by road on foot, all the are blocked. God grant that they arrive safe and sound" "Well daughter, I will continue in the company of Ramona, asking God to accompany them, I will leave you to rest" "Goodbye mother, may God protect you!".
That same day at about 8 p.m. the phone rang again, I picked it up a little scared: "Hello!" Maria, very excited, answered: "Aunt, blessing, we have just arrived at Zulema's house! It was an odyssey, which we accomplished. Then they evacuated my mother and the child and took them away by helicopter. From then on. The rain continued, but a little lighter, the storm had calmed down. We decided to leave on foot. At first we cried, we left everything behind. Our belongings, our cars, our house, our clothes, in short, we only had what we were wearing. We plucked up courage, Ivan, Eunice and me. We said: "The important thing is that we are alive. "We prayed to God. And we started walking. Along the way, we saw the remains of housing estates left by the storm. Where the crests of the sea waves were rising furiously, pushed by the gusts of wind, transforming themselves into a sea of cams. In addition to this natural phenomenon, the river came down with its fury, bringing mud, stones and rocks that swept away everything, leaving the access roads obstructed by all these elements, which prevented the transit of vehicles. We travelled several kilometres, we felt that tiredness was going to betray us, we took strength from where we had none until we reached a place called El Trébol, where there were many people waiting to be transferred to Caracas. At six o'clock in the evening we were put on a bus, which took us to the capital, near a Metro stop. We got on the Metro and stayed at the stop near cousin Zuleima's house. Thank God, I am recounting these events.
"Here I am going to put your grandmother Lonides here to greet you, as she is anxious to hear from you" "Maria, how are you?". "Fine, a bit tired, Ivan and Eunice are fine" "I'm glad you've arrived safely, I'll let you rest!". "Good night grandma, may God continue to give you health". When we said goodbye to her. On the phone from Cumaná, in my house we prayed to God for having heard our prayers, and for having allowed them to arrive safe and sound.
https://pixabay.com/es/illustrations/rel%C3%A1mpago-portal-tormenta-bosque-7623735/
A few days later, María Enriqueta, an economics graduate and then manager of the Central Bank of Venezuela (Caracas), bought a flat in the La Candelaria housing estate and moved in with her family: her mother, her son, her husband and her sister Eunice. They are survivors of the storm in La Guaira.
A few months later they went to see their house in Macuto. There was no material damage. They cleaned it and left it for the holidays. .
Mary told me that now that state has been repaired and transformed by government agencies and it is beautiful.
Mary is currently a pensioner of the IVSS. She has 2 children, Zarahí and Hermes Samuel, who will be 24 this July, graduated as an engineer, works independently, Eunice (La negrita). Architect, works in Television, as a designer. Married, has 2 children, lives in another flat in Candelaria. Iván. TSU. In Transport, works in a factory in Caracas, always married to María.
My sister Maria Teresa went to the afterlife 13 years ago.
This is a non-fiction story
I hope you like it
The image is from Pixabay
Translator Used Deepl
Using Google Docs