There is an urgent search for survivors more than 24 hours after two earthquakes rocked Venezuela less than a minute apart.
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Venezuela’s Health Minister said Thursday night that more than 200 people are dead and at least 4,300 people are hurt. Many people are still missing. The quake also flattened buildings and collapsed roads.
Thousands of miles away, Venezuelans in South Florida are trying to stay hopeful, like Stefanny Tenia, who’s a producer for NBC6. She said her uncle, Alcedes Rausseo Mata, is missing. He lives alone in La Guaira.
“It’s been devastating,” Tenia said. “My dad started receiving messages from his cousins saying they couldn’t locate my uncle.”
Tenia posted her uncle’s picture on social media, hoping it would reach more people.
“It’s been devastating, there’s no signal, no connection, my family has no gas or electricity,” Tenia said. “We’re just very hopeful we can find him in any of the hospitals or alive.”
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Earlier in the day, Paula Rodriguez was searching for her cousin. She said thankfully, he was found alive.
“This is my first time facing something like this and this is something very sad,” Rodriguez said.
Frantic rescue efforts are just getting started. Tenia, like so many people, is holding onto hope.
“I just remember him as happy and very supportive, and that’s why I feel this is hitting my family really hard, and I just hope we can find him,” Tenia said. “We’re very hopeful we will find my uncle; we just need to keep praying, and I believe that’s how we can be together in this.”
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