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St.Thomas resident with ties to Baltimore trying to move on after hurricanes

Posted at 11:39 PM, Sep 21, 2017
and last updated 2017-09-21 23:39:37-04

While so many are dealing with the devastation Maria left in her wake, others were able to flee her wrath.  ABC2 spoke to one woman who survived Irma and got away from Maria who's now in Baltimore trying to figure out her next move.        

Lauren Kubat and her boyfriend Ryan were able to leave their St. Thomas home safely.  St. Thomas is a resort island and thrives off tourism. They say the island is in shambles.  There's no power, no tourists and worst of all no work to back to. 

"We were there for a week with nine people in our house with a generator that was going on and off so we had to plan showers, laundry,  wound up on a cruise ship, a rescue cruise ship," Kubat said.

With just a few pieces of clothes, her boyfriend Ryan, her fish and her dog boarded that ship.   

"Fortunately our house is ok but all our stuff is there we have our whole life which is basically just clothes now in a suitcase.  We saw the second rescue ship come in and we had to make a decision in about an hour of just go," she told ABC2.

She recalls what she saw before she left.

"Hiking through a road that we normally drive down, I was just in tears the whole time the whole thing we've been in tears even when we left on the cruise ship were in tears because it's our home you know?"

Now, she and Ryan and trying to decide their next move.

"There's no work there.  The cruise ship industry, St. Thomas is a tourism place so cruise ships aren't going to be coming for a long time, we might not have power for months."

Lauren says she's taking a big gamble to start over because there's no choice after what back to back hurricanes did to her island paradise. 

"If I knew i had to be without power for a month we could deal with that but we just don't know so hopefully one day once things get a little bit going again we want to go help rebuild and do what we can but at this point we have to look out for our family," said Kubat.

Lauren and Ryan left all their cherished belongings behind on the island.  She says these next few months will be a big adventure.

Click here to learn more about Lauren's story and to help.

Click here to help those impacted by all recent hurricanes.