Chile earthquake
FORT WORTH — Carol Ampuero has experienced through joy and grief since a massive earthquake struck Chile early Saturday morning.
The tragedy left the Fort Worth woman uncertain about the fate of one parent — and unable to bury the other.
Ampuero was talking to her mother early Saturday morning when the earth started shaking in Chile. She said it was the most helpless she ever felt in her life as the line went dead.
"You could hear the sound of the earthquake shaking... real hard.. and I could hear things falling down, and all of a sudden I hear my mom saying, 'Oh, this house is going to fall!' And the phone call got disconnected."
For the next two days, she was unable to make contact. Ampuero had no idea whether her mother and sister were OK. Both lived along the coast of Chile, a couple of hours from the capital, Santiago.
Ampuro spent hours on Facebook, reading through Chilean earthquake pages, messages from survivors — there was nothing.
The timing was cruel. Just two weeks ago, Ampuero traveled to Fort Worth to bring her father's body home to Chile.
Finally, at 9:30 p.m. Sunday — more than two days after last hearing her mother's voice — Ampuero tried again.
This time, it worked... her mother answered.
"I can breathe again," she said.
Now, Ampuero must focus on the impossible logistics involved in getting her father back home, including a closed airport and impassible roads.
"I don't feel like he can rest in peace until I can do his burial," she said.
And until Carol Ampuero is reunited with family members in Chile, she won't allow herself peace, either.
E-mail chawes@wfaa.com
