'Just to hold him': P.E.I. woman excited for post-Irma reunion with husband in Cuba

A P.E.I. woman has heard her husband and his family are OK in Cuba, following Hurricane Irma, though she has not had a chance to talk to him.

But Stephanie Gallant Perez should see him soon. She's been told her WestJet flight scheduled for this Saturday is expected to go.

"Just to hold him and make sure that everything is OK, it's going to be probably one of the greatest feelings ever," she said.

Perez watched the approach of Irma with increasing anxiety.

"Sitting back and not being able to do anything when your husband's in this kind of area is really, really scary," she said.

Pitching in to help

The couple's home in Mantanza, Cuba, is on a hill and spared from flooding or other serious damage, but the surrounding community is in bad shape.

"They knew it was going to be category 5 and it was going to be bad but there were some places it was catastrophic that they didn't think it was going to be," Perez said.

Despite being built of concrete, many buildings were reduced to rubble.

Cell service is down, but she has talked to some people in the area who were able to give her news.

"I haven't been able to hear his voice yet," she said, "but everyone's safe and OK."

Perez said her husband is busy helping clean up after the storm.

She hasn't seen her husband since May. WestJet told her flights are expected to resume Wednesday, so she should be good to go on Saturday.

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