Category 4 storm Hurricane Harvey made landfall last month, hitting the Gulf of Mexico and Texas.
Just after Harvey, Category 5 storm Hurricane Irma hit Florida, resulting in the evacuation of tens of thousands of Florida residents. Though Hurricane Irma was over 800 miles from Blackburn College, some students felt its impact.
Sophomore sports management major Andrew Gill’s family is located in Jacksonville, Florida. “For me personally, it was a really worrisome time because of having to look and see about my family. Also not knowing what kind of damage it was going to do,” he said. “Everything is good now. Some minor damage to the house, but we will probably see more because the flooding hasn’t reached its peak yet. But everyone I know and everyone in my family is good. That’s the main concern.”
Freshman psychology major Christian Jackson has an uncle living 15 minutes outside of Gainesville, Florida, who had to hunker down in an underground shelter when Irma hit. “I wasn’t super concerned because he had gotten to safe shelter before the storm hit, but once the storm hit we had lost contact with him, and then we became more afraid because of the possibility of his shelter becoming flooded,” Jackson said. He was happy to report that, since the storm has passed, his uncle is safe but his house sustained damage and will need a new roof.
The campus is making efforts to aid the victims of the storms. The Campus Activity Board and other organizations at Blackburn are sending school supplies to students affected by Hurricane Irma. Alondra Olvera, Resident Director of Jewell Hall and Director of Campus Activities, mentioned that she hopes students and Carlinville residents will help in the campus and community-wide effort to get a trailer filled and sent to Florida.