Bedford woman hears parents are safe after Hurricane Maria rips through Puerto Rico

Hurricane Maria left 3.5 million people without power

BEDFORD, Va. – Yitza Escobar of Bedford and Puerto Rico native was just in Puerto Rico with her parents and family, celebrating her cousin's wedding. 

"It's hard for me because I was there three, four days ago and everything was perfect and now everything's destroyed,” Escobar said. 

Destroyed by Hurricane Maria, the storm ripped through the island of three and a half million people. It left almost every one of them without power, and made it hard for those in the states to contact their families. 

Escobar says she and her sons saw her parents for the first time in three years since migrating to the states. Tuesday night was the last time she heard from them.

“It's worse when you are far from them. If you are there struggling that's fine because we’re are all together. But now here, I can't do anything right now,” Escobar said.

Social media is Escobar’s only way of knowing what is going on in Puerto Rico. She shared these pictures of what's she's been seeing online. 

"There's mainly no water, no gas, no communication, all the satellites, the radio stations are down. Everything.”

While keeping her phone close, Escobar has learned through a cousin, who had to drive 45 minutes to find cell signal, that her parents are safe. But not hearing from them personally still affects her. 

"I know it's going to be hard for them to see this, but anybody that knows me, that knows my family. They can call me. At least take a picture of them."