When Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, Jorge Cerame was on the telephone to his father and even when he said they didn’t need anything his son knew better.
Cerame knew better.
The storm stands as the worst natural disaster on record in Dominica and posed an incredible humanitarian crisis where he grew up.
“One thing I learned from help the people in Baton Rouge last year in the flood was that you needed to get a little pushy because they don’t want to inconvenience people,” he said.
So, Cerame pushed.
That’s when his father admitted he needed a generator. Cerame reached out to chief pilot John Flannigan, explaining he knew it was a long shot with sending flights to Puerto Rico. Flannigan quickly replied no problem and contacted Ashten Dickey, coordinator of Dow Aviation who works out Dow’s Baton Rouge hanger.
They had already been flying relief flights with Hurricane Harvey to Houston with supplies to Dow sites primarily, and now they were flying to Puerto Rico.
Cerame, who has spent five of his 30 years with Dow in St. Charles Parish, has been organizing volunteers and donations from around the company (Michigan, Texas and Louisiana) and worked with Dow Aviation to have them flown to Puerto Rico.
He flew on at least one flight and was able to connect with Dow employees on the island, as well as employee family members, including his own, to assess impact and assist in recovery.
On the Puerto Rico assistance, Cerame had a welcome problem.
“We had too many people for what we needed … because people were really eager to help out,” he said. “That first plane was loaded and then more flights followed.”
Cerame also helped his sister in Ponce, who was in more dire straits.
His father had water, but no power. His sister had neither so he put a care package together and put it on a subsequent flight to Puerto Rico. He also helped a colleague in Michigan deliver aid to her family there.
On one of the flights, Cerame, who is a native of San German, recalled serving as an interpreter on one flight.
“We loaded the plane and it left a little after 8 in the evening and arrived close to midnight,” he said. “We unloaded and loaded about 20 to 25 passengers, who were leaving Puerto Rico for a variety of issues. Some of them had medical conditions and it was advised they come to the U.S. for better care.”
On arrival, Cereme said he noticed how quiet everything was there.
“I was surprised by how dark it was,” he said. “It was clear that the people who had lights had it coming off generators. Street lights were out.”
Cerame said they saw some damage at the airport with buildings without roofs and some vegetation stripped bare by the hurricane winds.
“Most of the people were grateful to be able to get out,” he said. Dow did not charge them for the flight.”
Cerame also praised Dickey’s help, as well as that of Dow.
“At Dow, we say, “Big company – big heart,” he said, “and if this isn’t proof of that I don’t what would be.”
Be the first to comment