Family and friends of two Red Deer women visiting Chile received good news in the early evening on Sunday when they found out both women were OK.
An earthquake, with an 8.8 magnitude, crumpled buildings and roadways and sent water flooding onto the coastal country early Saturday morning.
Lindsay Stein, 27, and Danielle Burridge, 29, both of Red Deer, went down to Chile a little over a week ago to learn Spanish and volunteer.
The women are situated in the town of Pichilemu, which is a couple hundred kms southwest of Santiago.
The community is located along the Pacific Ocean, northwest of the epicentre of the quake.
It’s know as a surfing hub and draws people from all over the world to surf the waves along the Pacific coastline.
Stein’s mother Kelly Soucy phoned the embassy, the Canadian Red Cross and the Foreign Affairs department, trying to get information on Saturday and Sunday. She has been watching every bit of news on television and online. She sat by her phone waiting for her daughter to call all weekend, but phone lines are down in many parts of Chile.
Finally on Sunday night she received a call from a language teacher at the school in Chile, whose husband had tracked down Stein and Burridge to make sure they were alright.
“He was in contact with them and said the home they were staying in is standing and safe and they’re pretty shook up, but Lindsay said ‘Can you phone my mom and let Danielle’s family know we’re OK.’ There are generators in the supermarket so they have adequate food,” Soucy said.
There isn’t as much structural damage in Pichilemu, but there is some tsunami damage in the area, the power is still off and the phone lines are down where the women are staying. Soucy said it isn’t known when they’ll return home.
“We just know they are safe,” Soucy said. “I’m sure as soon as they can get to a phone we’ll find out more.”
Danielle Burridge’s fiancé Winston Bull has barely gotten a wink of sleep since he found out the earthquake hit Chile.
He looked through tweets on twitter and checked any reports from the area Burridge and Stein were staying to try to find out if they were alright.
He has made phone calls to everyone and everywhere he could think of, trying to get his fiancée’s name out there in hopes someone knew where she was and how she was doing. The relief was obvious in his voice shortly after he received the good news.
“I’m just falling down now. I’m going to have a nap,” he said. “They’re well. All is good and I can go to sleep.”
sobrien@www.reddeeradvocate.com