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A Man In Puerto Rico Is Filming People To Let Relatives Know They're OK After Hurricane Maria

September 29, 2017

A man in Puerto Rico is filming videos of people to let relatives in other parts of the island and overseas know that their families are safe in the wake of Hurricane Maria.

Angel Rios Boneta has posted more than 50 videos on Facebook of residents simply stating their names and saying that they are "OK" in hopes that the messages make it to their loved ones.

Boneta, who lives in San Juan, initially set out to check on his family after the storm but said that one of his uncles had asked him to take a cellphone video of his daughter so he could see she was fine.

That simple request turned into a movement for Boneta, prompting him to make videos for people along the way from San Juan to Utuado and around the town's shelters and streets.

"I feel satisfaction that family members can see that they're alive," Boneta told ABC News. "There are many people who don't know about their families since day one. For a full week they don't know if they're alive, and the videos help."

The comments on his videos show a flood of gratitude from people all around the world.

"I'm not planning to stop," Boneta said. "I'll keep doing this until things get back to normal, or until someone tells me I need to stop -- and they better give me a valid reason for asking me not to keep doing this."