Hurricanes distress some; others not worried

When two major hurricanes battered the Southeast earlier this month, some students at Alderson Broaddus University wondered how their loved ones would be affected by the storms. 

Some students, like Alexis Kimball, felt concerned for her family, who live outside of Houston in Dayton, Texas. 

“I felt scared for my family, though I wasn’t there to be with them in the time of the storm Harvey,” Kimball said.  “I couldn’t really do anything for them, but I was thankful to be away from the storm.”

After the first couple of days some students at AB lost contact with their families because of downed power lines.  

“After getting a phone call from my mother, who reassured me that everything was –okay. I felt relieved,” McIntosh said with emotion.  

However some students weren’t that worried. AB student Adam Zirkelbach,whose family lives seven miles north of Daytona and resides in Ormond Beach, FL, has experienced severe weather before.

“The hurricane didn’t affect me because my family has been through so many hurricanes in the past,” Zirkelbach said.

Timothy McIntosh, an AB resident of Miami, FL agrees.

“I wasn’t really worried about Irma because living in the part of Southern Florida my family and I are used to getting a lot of hurricanes.” 

Most AB students whose families that were affected by the hurricanes never evacuated their homes.

“My family never left our home, but ended up having a few minor leaks coming from the roof and flooding in the garage,” Kimball said.

“My parents stayed home, but the storm caused a corner piece from our roof to go missing because a tree knocked it downed,” Zirkelbach said.

The storms have put the affected areas in turmoil. According to the Washington Post, Harvey has killed over 82 people and the damages from the storm have cost $180 billion due to property damage and insurance rates. 

Alex Harris, a journalist from Miami Herald News, interviewed a team of Florida International University researchers who estimated that the storm’s winds alone will set the Sunshine State back $19.4 billion.

According to CNN.com, Hurricane Maria may hit the East coast of the United States within the week.