Every August, as summer draws to its unhappy close, the Atlantic hurricane season reaches its peak. Marked by torrents of rain and severe winds that can register at more than 100 mph, hurricanes ravage the coastline in a destructive path, leaving behind broken tree branches and communities in ruin. While safely located in Charlottesville, University students from New Orleans and nearby areas had to deal with worry and confusion this week in the wake of Hurricane Gustav.
It has been a little over three years since Hurricane Katrina terrorized the Gulf Coast, but for New Orleans residents, the memories are still fresh.
Second-year College student Sydney Davis recalled being relocated to College Station, Texas, and spending the first four months of her junior year of high school there.
“[The other students] knew why you were there, but didn’t care as much ... imagine going there with 3,500 students, when I’m used to a school of 600, and it’s already past the first week,” she said.
Fear of another Hurricane Katrina-type situation arose as Hurricane Gustav ripped through the Caribbean islands and across the Gulf Coast last weekend, with winds reaching up to 115 mph Monday morning, according to The Weather Channel’s Web site.
Some, like third-year College student Elizabeth Tilton’s family, gained experience from staying in New Orleans throughout Hurricane Katrina and had made necessary preparations for their homes, boarding up windows and storing important documents and photos.
“After Hurricane Katrina, we had about 5.5 feet of water in the house, so we learned incredibly quickly that we needed to get everything up,” Tilton said. “Everything under 5 feet was absolutely gone.”
But preparing the house was not the Tiltons’ only concern. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, doubts were raised about the city government’s ability to handle similar situations and whether the levees would be able to hold for Hurricane Gustav, Tilton explained.
In an attempt to avoid some of disarray following Hurricane Katrina, mandatory evacuations took place in New Orleans Sunday, Aug. 31. Those who wished to remain in the city adhered to a curfew that began at dusk; anyone outside after curfew was subject to arrest.
Though Tilton and her family stayed in the city during Hurricane Katrina, they decided they would not do so again as a family during another hurricane evacuation, Tilton said. Her father remained in New Orleans to work in the hospital, but her mother and brother are currently staying in a hotel in Birmingham, Ala.
“When you have to get out of the city, you have to be able to have the transportation, and you have to have a place to go — and it’s all coming out of your own pocket,” Tilton said. “You don’t get reimbursed for it, or not that I’ve ever seen.”
Although the evacuations were stressful for their families in New Orleans, some University students have also had a difficult time dealing with the situation.
Second-year College student Robert Eshleman’s family was forced to relocate to a hotel in Atlanta until New Orleans regains electricity.
“It’s really hard — I just feel really disconnected right now,” Eshleman said. “On Sunday, I was just sitting there ... refreshing the [Internet news] Web page to figure out what was going on. I guess it’s just a feeling of not being in control and not being there [that] is the hardest part.”
In addition to the difficulty of not knowing how their families were faring back home, for some it can be tough to convey feelings of anxiety to other students who have not experienced a similar situation.
“They don’t understand what it’s like,” Davis explained. “It’s really stressful ... there’s no one to talk to.”
To help bring together students from the Gulf Coast, Pat Lampkin, vice president and chief student affairs officer, hosted an outreach gathering in Pavilion V Monday. Over red beans and rice and jambalaya, about 25 students from the greater New Orleans area, as well as the Louisiana and Mississippi coast, had the opportunity to express their concerns and share any information they had heard.
“It was helpful just getting together with people from the area and talking about our experiences, because everyone is in the same situation — just being here and not having an in-depth access of what is going on,” Eshleman said. “It’s helpful just talking, just sympathizing with people in the same situation.”
Lampkin hosted a similar event on the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina in 2006. Both gatherings allowed students to “build up a sense of community,” Tilton said.
As the worst of Hurricane Gustav seems to have passed, New Orleans residents started to return home Wednesday. Flooding and power outages continue to be problems, as more than a million people are still without electricity and might be for the next month, according to The Associated Press.
“So far, you can’t say that it’s clear yet, now that things are holding, but you just never can tell — it’s a matter of hoping and praying,” Tilton said.
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