Bay Shore woman’s family survives Colombia quake as Long Island community rallies to help
As of Tuesday night, the death toll had surpassed 200 people, with thousands more injured or missing.
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For Bay Shore resident Luisa Roman, the devastating earthquake in Colombia quickly became personal.
Roman, who was born and raised in Colombia before moving to the United States as a child, says she immediately tried to reach her family after the 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck Monday morning.
“I called my aunts and no one was answering. The WhatsApp messages are not going through,” Roman said. “I said maybe, well, they lost Wi-Fi. I wasn’t concerned yet.”
Roman says the last time she visited Colombia was in December. She felt a small rumble during that trip, which she says is not uncommon in her native city of Pereira.
But after receiving videos from family members showing damage from Monday’s earthquake, she realized how serious the situation was.
One video showed her cousin, a veterinarian, narrowly escaping a collapsing parking structure. Roman says he had just parked his car and gotten out when the structure came tumbling down, destroying his vehicle.
“That’s her screaming. It’s really hard to describe what I’m feeling right now,” Roman said.
Roman says she spent hours trying to reach other family members.
“Now we’re like, OK, it happened at 7:20 a.m., where is everybody at 7:20 a.m., right?” she said. “My cousin is probably driving into work. My aunt, maybe she was sleeping. Maybe she’s at the doctor’s office. We’re both crying on the phone.”
By the end of the day, Roman was able to reach the rest of her family. But she knows not everyone has received the same good news.
As of Tuesday night, the death toll had surpassed 200 people, with thousands more injured or missing.
“Colombia is my heart,” Roman said.
That same connection is driving a relief effort in Brentwood.
Miguel Garzon, owner of La Espiguita, a Colombian bakery and soccer academy, partnered with other local residents to organize a donation drive for earthquake victims.
The group is collecting clothing, nonperishable food and other basic necessities, including flashlights and batteries.
“We need gloves, we need masks, clothes. It’s so many things they really need over there and we are trying to put this together and organize it that way,” said Alexandra Yanez, of North Babylon.
The donation drive runs through Friday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at La Espiguita Soccer Academy in Brentwood.
