Just hours before Hurricane Maria struck, hunkered between mattresses, Sara Ouellette Subero listened anxiously to the rumbling noise outside the walls of her resort on the island of Dominica. Her baby was asleep and her 5-year-old daughter, wide awake, thought they were having a sleepover adventure, unaware of the tremendous danger coming their way.Her last post on Facebook to her family and friends said that she and her seven guests were well-prepared and equipped with all the basic necessities. She wrote that as the gusts of wind got stronger their hearts pounded faster. In a phone call, she told her mother in Sturgeon Falls, Ont. on Monday evening that they would stay hunkered until the storm passed through. No one has heard from Subero or her guests since. The Category 5 hurricane, with sustained winds above 160 mph, wreaked havoc across the tiny Caribbean island late Monday. Dominica lost all communication and reception with the outside world – leaving parents and family members in the dark for days. “No one has heard from anyone on the island, there is no communication whatsoever,” said Lynn Cockburn-Ouellette, Subero’s mother. “I have gone to everyone’s Facebook page that I can think of to see if there is any post or anything and there is nothing, there is nothing there.”Dominica was Hurricane Maria’s first major victim as it paved its deadly path through the Caribbean. It has since moved into Puerto Rico, where it has cut off all power and damaged homes. The hurricane followed two other deadly storms, Irma and Jose. Officials estimated that up to 90 per cent of Dominica’s buildings and homes were damaged by the storm – ranging from ripped-off roofs to near-total destruction. Aerial footage show debris fields spread across the island, roads washed out and upended water pipelines. At least seven people were reported dead. Subero, 30, and her husband Stephan Ricardo Subero, 33, moved from Sturgeon ...
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