As Hurricane Irma brushed San Juan, Puerto Rico Wednesday, fear is grew as the category five storm encroached on the island.
Nicholas Guerro's flight back home to Chicago was canceled. He was stuck at a resort--forced to ride out the storm overnight.
"We just finished boarding up one of the houses, my house," said Guerrero. "I'm nervous.
He says about 150 resort guests will spend the night in the hotel's ballroom. The hotel rooms were evacuated Wednesday morning, he said.
"They're saying they want us all to go to the ballroom," he told NBC 5 in a FaceTime interview. "It'll be a safer condition for us since the windows are floor to ceiling, they're worried about the windows being blown out or cracked."
Susan Reyna-Gurrero can only watch the storm from Chicago texting Nicholas, her son, every chance she gets.
"I'm his mother," she said. "I want to be there."
Hundreds of thousands of people are already without power on the island. Gurrero says the resort is running on generators during what is just the beginning of a long night ahead.
"Everyone sees the pictures and videos from Harvey and everything so I don't if we're expecting that," he said. "I don't know what to expect afterward, honestly."
The eye of Hurricane Irma passed over the island of Barbuda, the National Weather Service said, causing widespread flooding. At least one person was killed on Barbuda, the National Emergency Operations Center said, and at least two others were killed on the French islands of St. Martin and St. Barts, France's ministry for overseas affairs said.
By 6 p.m. ET, the storm was hovering about 55 miles east-northeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico, the National Hurricane Center said.
Hurricane Irma Potential Path
Note: The cone contains the probable path of the storm center but does not show the size of the storm. Updated Sept. 10 at 5 p.m.
Source: NOAA
