ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — On Monday, Sept. 19, Puerto Ricans woke up to destruction caused by a natural disaster yet again after Hurricane Fiona devastated the island.

The Category 1 hurricane arrived on the same week as the 5-year anniversary of Hurricane Maria.

Laudi Campo with Hispanic Federation said discussions with other local nonprofits such as Alianza for Progress, Christ the King Episcopal Church, and Latino Leadership have occurred daily since Sept. 16. She said they’re applying lessons they learned from Hurricane Maria to help the displaced.

“What we’re doing is we’re meeting with organizations have already worked with in the past that we already supported and we have a little more experience now,” Campo said.

She said because the Hispanic Federation has an office in Puerto Rico they’ve already started providing help on the island.

“What we did was to start handing out solar lamps,” she said. “The Puerto Rico office already has handed out 11,000. We’re handing out 19,000 more once weather permits.”

Hurricane Maria dropped about 40 inches of rain, and the constant downpour from Hurricane Fiona dropped more than 35 inches in some areas.

“The anguish yesterday, I mean PTSD, flows organically,” Puerto Rican resident Karen Garnick said.

The southern municipalities of Puerto Rico received the brunt of the damage, but Garnick, who lives in San Juan, said everyone was affected.

“We don’t have any power, we don’t have water or Internet but, other than that, we didn’t have any significant damages to our properties,” she said.

Haltillo Mayor Carlos Romàn Romàn said his first responders started working to limit potential damage a week before the storm arrived.

He said the preparation kept the damage in the northern municipality mostly to homes damaged by downed trees.

“We helped rescue a woman whose roof was damaged in the storm and reunited her with a child in a nearby shelter,” he said.

According to Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi, there were more than 128 shelters open across the island and, so far, more than 2,100 people sought refuge in them.

Campo said Hispanic Federation opened a $100,000 fund to give directly to organizations that are on the ground.

She said what’s needed now is cash donations to help support nonprofits working on the island. She said 100% of donations made to the Hispanic Federation will be used for that purpose.

For more information on Hispancic Federation's current work in Puerto Rico, or to donate, visit the Hurricane Fiona page on the group's website.

The nonprofit also has a hotline (844) 432-9832 to help displaced Puerto Ricans who arrive in Central Florida.