Written by: Genesis Ventura
Hurricanes Fiona and Ian have affected people from different parts of the world, including Southern student’s families and friends.
According to an article by CNN, Hurricane Fiona affected parts of Puerto Rico, the Caribbean Islands, Bermuda and Canada. Fiona was a Category 3 storm with forceful winds up to 125 mph.
Hurricane Ian was a Category 4 hurricane with winds up to 150 mph, according to NBC News. Thus far, Hurricane Ian has affected the Cayman Islands, Cuba, Jamaica and Florida.
Southern students shared their stories of how people close to them have been affected.
Madi Esther Rodriguez, senior business administration major, said her relatives in Puerto Rico were affected by Fiona. They live in Trujillo Alto, she explained, a town located in the Northern Coastal Plain.
“I have a lot of uncles and aunts. I would say almost everybody in my family was affected,” Rodriguez said. “They were all hit. Luckily, they have generators. It took two weeks for the water to come back.”
Rodriguez said after Hurricane Maria in 2017, her family became proactive in preparing for hurricanes.
“My grandmother,she lives in Florida,but she purchased generators for some of her brothers and so on,” Rodriguez said. “It just kind of became a domino effect that everyone [thought], ‘Oh, maybe we should prepare because this can happen again.’”
Family members in the states don’t get back to the island as much as they used to, according to Rodriguez, so every hurricane raises concerns about possibly losing a family member and never seeing that person again. During such hard times, Rodriguez’s grandmother is a beacon of hope.
“Something that my grandmother said is that no news is good news. Even when it’s scary, sometimes you just have to have the faith that they’re going to be okay,” Rodriguez said. “Even now, we still haven’t heard from some family. It’s like, ‘Are they okay?’ When you hear from them, you’ll hear from them.”
Millia Dirksen, freshman speech pathology major, also shared how her family was affected by Fiona. She said her grandparents live in a small town near Nova Scotia, Canada. Major hurricane damage was not expected because Nova Scotia is more of an inward island, and the only thing her grandparents lost was a window.
“We have a house up there,” Dirsken said. “An oak tree fell near the house, and it destroyed the street sign name that we just put in.”
Lexie Chandler, freshman biology major, shared how her family was affected by Ian.
“I’ve got grandparents in St. Petersburg, Florida, so they were affected more. But the rest of my family is in Melbourne.”
Chandler added that her grandparents currently do not have power or [Wi-FI] service.
Soleil Joseph, junior animation major, said people close to her were affected by Ian. Her parents and siblings live in Conway, Florida. As a result of the hurricane, her family lost power, and one of her friend’s houses was flooded.