By Ariana Fromm
TAMPA, Fla.– Did The University of Tampa do enough before Hurricane Milton? I don’t think so. After the first hurricane, Helene, it felt like UTampa students didn’t have time to breathe because Milton came less than two weeks later. It felt like there was no time to prepare for it like students did for the first one. About 24 hours before it hit, we had to figure out what to do and where to go, whether to stay in Tampa and stay in a shelter or book a last-minute flight home.
I was struck with fear and anxiety because of how little time the school gave students to evacuate. Luckily, I had my car, so I was able to evacuate the next day and go home, even though traffic everywhere was atrocious because it was so last minute. However, I know other people who didn’t have cars had difficulty going home because they had to fly instead. Due to how fast the storm was approaching, many students were unable to book flights in advance. If UTampa notified students even a few days in advance that there was a strong chance they would close the school, then I feel that students wouldn’t have had an issue with the evacuation process.
Not only did UTampa not do enough before, but they also did not do enough after the hurricane. It felt like the school was trying to rush everyone back on campus. Although they did it because UTampa wanted to make sure students did not miss any more class time, the school was still somewhat of a mess. There was debris, such as fallen trees, everywhere on the road and in Plant Park, and some of the dorms weren’t completely ready to go back to. For instance, Straz Hall was without hot water for about three days, and Urso Hall was without power for a few days. Even though Straz Hall had problems, residents were able to move back in, unlike the residents of Urso Hall, which meant they either had to find a place to stay or live in Barrymore Hotel for the time being.
I think UTampa really needs to reevaluate how they communicate with students and their standards on whether or not the school is safe to come back to if there is ever a natural disaster hitting Tampa again.
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Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.