Airlines are still struggling to get into devastated Puerto Rico

Northeast Ohioans have lost communication with relatives in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria flooded streets and knocked out power and other utilities on the island.

“It could be tonight, it could be tomorrow, it could be in the next few days, but it’s very likely it will be soon”, she told Reuters by telephone on Friday night.

Maria, the most powerful hurricane to hit the island in almost a century, unleashed floods and mudslides and knocked out the entire electrical grid and telecommunications, leaving many mainland families anxiously awaiting word on relatives in Puerto Rico. We’ve also called the police station in Puerto Rico.

Near the rain-swollen Guajataca River, in the northwest part of the island, floodwater littered with branches and debris engulfed the first floor of a number of homes and swamped vehicles that were left behind.

In a manner similar to Hurricane Jose, Maria will drop out of the strong upper-level winds of the jet stream, trapping the storm and preventing its escape out to sea for several days.

In all, there were four flights scheduled between the San Juan airport in Puerto Rico and the Philadelphia International Airport on Saturday, but all of them have been canceled.

Earlier news reports had put the island’s death toll as high as 15.

“It’s where we come from”, said Angelo Ortiz, with the Latin Americans for Athletics, Arts and Academics.

The 103rd Airlift Wing of the Connecticut National Guard were deployed from Bradley Air National Guard Base in East Granby to Puerto Rico and St. Thomas today to help out with Hurricane Maria relief.

Elsewhere in the Caribbean, 14 deaths were reported on Dominica, an island nation of 71,000 inhabitants.

FEMA said Saturday that round-the-clock efforts were underway to help Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

An Austin police officer from the US territory described his family’s experience as they rode out the storm.

When Maria hit Puerto Rico on Wednesday, it was the third-strongest storm to make landfall in the US, based on its central pressure.

American planned a single round trip from Philadelphia on Saturday and again Sunday, but was not yet selling seats on those flights by Friday afternoon.

Operations remain suspended to Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands (PLS); St. Croix Island, US Virgin Islands (STX); St. Maarten, Saint Maarten (SXM) and St. Thomas Island, US Virgin Islands (STT). “Officials are not sure when power will be restored”, added the company. “All the training, dedication and hard work”, said Jason Vasquez, a K-9 Search Specialist, who has been traveling to natural disasters for the past 12 years. The storm also caused extensive flooding.