Local Man Details Ida's Wrath In El Salvador

BALTIMORE - WBALTV.com

While the remnants of Hurricane Ida makes its way through the area, a Baltimore man said the rain and wind are nothing compared to the storm's true fury that he faced in Central America.

On Oct. 30, Aaron Fries said he traveled with his father to El Salvador just outside of Santa Anna to help build homes for Habitat for Humanity. He was there for five days and then off for a rest -- or so he thought.

"At the end out our build for the weekend we traveled down to the coast outside of San Salvador," he said.

Fries said it rained throughout the night but that at some point, the strong showers turned scary as Hurricane Ida traveled on shore.

"Just before 6 a.m., we heard some water running. We actually thought it was the toilet overflowing," he said.

But he looked outside and saw much worse.

"Within minutes, it was up three or four feet, so we scrapped packing things … I was in the cabana with my father, and he and I headed out the door for higher ground," Fries said.

He said by the time he and his 68-year-old father made it out , the water was up to his chest. He said while they made it to safety rather quickly, others were not as lucky.

"A few people in our group were really stuck. They actually had to climb up into a coconut tree and wait there for about an hour until some people could get back to them with some electrical cords to pull them across the flowing current," he said.

The 20-member group all gathered at the resort's restaurant, and if the rushing waters weren't enough to deal with, the resort's pet alligator managed to float out of his pen and into the water. Fries said it became an issue for those looking for safety.

“One of the workers said that there was nothing to worry about because they’d just fed the alligator the night before and that he was probably gone and not hungry," he said.

About seven hours after the flooding began, military helicopters landed on a beach and rescued the group and some locals.

Fries said for a short time, the language and cultural differences disappeared.

"We were sitting on the dirty, wet helicopter floor with a bunch of Salvadorian people, some of whom were at the resort and some who just walked up the beach, so that they could get out as well, and it was interesting because we were all just people at that point," he said. Fries said even after the ordeal, he hopes to get back to El Salvador to help those who help save him.

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