Puerto Ricans in Houston checking on family after Hurricane Fiona
HOUSTON - Rescue efforts are underway in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Fiona.
The storm made landfall as a category 1 hurricane on the island Sunday with winds gusting to 90 miles per hour and dumping roughly 30 inches of rain in some areas.
RELATED: Hurricane Fiona knocks out power in Puerto Rico
"The hurricane, and now the storm, has impacted and covered the whole island," said Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi.
Hundreds of homes and businesses are reported damaged or destroyed. President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency for the territory. The entire island remains without power.
"I was just praying and checking," said Brian Henderson. "I was like, please God. Do not be like Maria."
RELATED: Hurricane Maria hits Puerto Rico after slamming Dominica
Henderson recently moved to Houston from Puerto Rico. He says power outages have made it tough contacting family and friends.
"They [didn’t] have signal," said Henderson. "The first 24 hours was offline. I was kind of worried. The day after that, they told me everything was fine."
Henderson says Hurricane Fiona brings back painful memories of Hurricane Maria five years ago. Maria devastated Puerto Rico as a destructive and deadly category 4 storm.
"We were almost a year without light, without power, it was kind of hard," said Henderson.
Crews in Puerto Rico are just starting to survey damage caused by Hurricane Fiona.
The Red Cross is urging people to donate blood to help.
"Keep on strong," said Henderson. "Keep on fighting. We’re going to get through this, like we did for Maria."