Hurricane Irma hit Florida on Sept. 10, causing Florida university closures. Because of this, many students traveled home early, including a few of Lafayette’s alumni.  

On Monday, Sept. 11, Florida Governor Rick Scott announced a state of emergency for all Florida counties through Executive Order 17-235.

State universities closed from Thursday, Sept. 7 through Monday, Sept. 11 at least.

However, Hurricane Irma passed over the Tampa area in a weakened state.

According to the University of South Florida (USF) website, “The damage to the campus was minimal.  Given these fortunate findings, we are preparing to resume normal operations. The University of South Florida Tampa and University of South Florida St. Petersburg will reopen on Wednesday, September 13th, 2017.  However, the NORMAL class schedule will resume on Thursday, September 14th.”

College freshman Sophia Hartin is one of the alumni who returned to the St. Louis area this past week from USF.

Hartin left for St. Louis before USF officially cancelled class, but she questioned whether or not she should drive back while her friends stayed behind.

“I was wondering if I should even leave or not, what I should bring if I do have to leave, and all my friends that had decided to either leave or stay hoping they’d be safe,” Hartin said.

The trip back didn’t run as smoothly as Hartin had planned.

“The normally 15-hour drive took a little over 24 hours due to so many people trying to evacuate the state,” Hartin said.

Hartin returned to Florida this week now that the storm has passed.

“There were a few buildings without power, a light post fallen down, and a few broken branches,” Hartin said. “I do have friends whose homes were damaged from the storm, the worst having part of the roof come off, leading to major leaks.”

Faith Frings, another Lafayette alumni and freshman at USF, came back to St. Louis this week while the hurricane struck Florida.

“I was a little scared because we had to leave so suddenly and I lived so far away, so it was stressful to book a last-minute flight.” Frings said. “I was also scared for my friends who were staying, and I constantly called and FaceTimed with them to make sure they were okay.”

Floridians quickly prepared for the storm’s arrival before Frings left for the airport.

“It was weird to see gas stations with caution tape around them showing they were closed as well as going to Target or Walgreens and seeing the water shelves and canned food shelves empty,” Frings said.

Once she left, Frings wished she could’ve stayed back in Florida.

“I wanted to be down there to help and to actually make a difference instead of watching from afar like the rest of the country because I had a personal connection to the people down there,” she said.

Although Frings was worried for her friends, most of them weren’t too concerned about the then-impending storm.

“Florida is used to having hurricanes happen during this time, especially since this time of year is hurricane season,” Frings said. “Overall, everyone that I kept in touch with was safe with the worst being damage to their homes due to blown-over trees and power outages.”

Now that she is back at USF, Frings has a positive outlook on the rest of the year.

“I’m excited to continue my semester at USF, hopefully with the worst behind us,” she said.