By Myla Shashiki, World News Editor
As the saying goes, there is a first time for everything, and, living in Florida, hurricanes are definitely no exception.
I first heard about Hurricane Ian from a friend, when it was still called Tropical Depression Nine, and coming from a country where hurricanes have never been an issue, the possibility made me anxious as I didn’t even have a clear idea of what it would look like.
My initial nervousness quickly transformed into confusion as I talked with more people about it. Some friends told me to start buying groceries, moving stuff around my room in case the window broke or the building flooded, and making plans to leave as soon as possible. Others said that it was just going to be heavy rains, but nothing to really worry about.
Being new to this, I didn’t know who to believe. I decided to be prepared just in case and went to buy water, batteries, and flashlights.
By Sunday, confusion grew even more with the uncertainty of how the following week would look like in terms of classes, with a lot of rumors and contradicting information circulating around campus, which ended up being very stressful.
In the end, I decided to go to Miami and stay with my family for the week. We had really bad weather the first couple of days, but nothing was out of the ordinary. However, it was still shocking to see images and videos of how the hurricane was affecting other parts of Florida, and it made me worried for my friends and relatives who live in those areas.
I was also not the only one preparing in advance.
“My family and I stayed at home after buying an incredible amount of bottled water and gas for our generator,” said Sophia Sullivan, a freshman majoring in English, and the Editorial editor at The Lions’ Pride Media Group. “We prepared for the worst, but it ended up being a bit anticlimactic, which of course was a blessing.”
Ian was Sullivan’s first hurricane experience.
“I don’t know if I feel more prepared, but I definitely feel more knowledgeable,” she said. “Watching everything on the news has helped me become more aware of these devastating storms. Can you ever really be prepared for storms such as these?”
Other students have similar stories about their first time dealing with a hurricane.
“This is my first time experiencing the hurricane situation, and from what I know, a big hurricane has very high impacts including extreme wind, rain, storm surge, and flooding, so it made me nervous,” said Bao Han, a sophomore majoring in Computer Science, and the Online Editor of The Lions’ Pride Media Group. “I moved to my friend’s house, which is three hours from the southwest, to stay for a week, but it was still extremely windy and stormy at night.”
In the end, what we can all learn is that the best thing we can do is to be prepared, as it’s always better to be safe than sorry, but to avoid falling into panic and to remain calm in order to make informed decisions.
