HOUSTON – Rescuers are racing against time to find survivors after a 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit Morocco.
It’s the strongest to hit the North African country in over a century. The epicenter of the quake was in the region south of Marrakech.
The quake could be felt roughly 150 miles away from where Abdelhadi Amraoui and his family were visiting relatives.
“It was quite the experience. It was very, very scary. It’s a thing I wish nobody goes through,” Amraoui said.
He and his family were preparing for bed when the quake hit. Amraoui is paralyzed from the waist down and instructed his family out of the home as he waited in a corner.
“I’m shaking right now because of that moment,” he said recounting the moment. “I thought it was going to be the end. It shook the inside of me.”
His family survived.
There are some structural damages to their home.
The Amraoui family were recipients of the Houston Habitat for Humanity’s 2016 home. Abdelhadi, a polio survivor, came to the United States from Casablanca as a student of economics in 2001.
“I had $825 in my pocket thinking it would be enough when I came to the U.S.,” Amraoui told KPRC 2 in 2016. “It lasted for like a week then I became homeless in Houston.”
With hard work and determination, he pulled through. He learned English and got a full-time job with the IRS.
Now in Morocco, he’s hoping to give back to his home country.
“There isn’t much physically that I could do but being a U.S. citizen and from Houston, I know Houstonians can help,” he said. “I couldn’t just sit and watch and cry. So, what I’m trying to do is get some help and go to the area.”
He’s preparing to organize relief efforts by raising enough funds to purchase immediate needs.
Ilham Benyahya with the Moroccan Society of Houston is preparing similar work.
“I’m very, very thankful to be in a city like Houston where everyone, not only Moroccans, was trying to reach out and ask if we needed something and that means a lot to us,” Benyahya said.
The organization is working with aid groups in Morocco and waiting for them to tell them exactly how they can help.
“We don’t want to overwhelm them,” Benyahya explained. “We are trying to see how we can make this happen.”
She is closely monitoring rescue efforts.
The Moroccan Society of Houston urges people looking to donate to do their due diligence and closely research where they are sending money. They are collecting a list of reputable sources.
KPRC 2 has a list of some of the groups working to help and ways for you to assist. We know Houston is a giving place and many of you want to help out where you can.