Many displaced Puerto Ricans spend Halloween in Florida

ORLANDO, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - When military wife Catarina Rivieros envisioned her one-year-old son’s first Halloween, it did not involve a hotel room and 90 other displaced families. 

“I had planned his first costume, and we were going to match. But it’s okay.”

Due to Hurricane Maria, she has been relocated to the Westgate Lake Resort and Spa. 

“We have food, we have water. We have everything we need,” she said. 

She’s not the only Puerto Rican who has been away from home for weeks.

“We are far away, but they say 'home is where the heart is.'”

Capt. Chris Jones is with the Miami recruiting Battalion stationed in Puerto Rico. He moved his two-year-old son, and pregnant wife more than a month ago to the south Orlando resort.

“They’ve made it as comfortable as possible. But you do miss home.”

Maria O’Donnell is one of the many volunteers who have decorated their military vehicles, to pass out candy to the children. 

“I have plenty of family and friends in Puerto Rico. Some lost everything.”

She hopes it made it feel like a normal Halloween for the children, even if it’s not.

“He is learning how to walk in a hotel again because of the hurricane.”