Families have been displaced and without a home, and even worse, loved ones were lost. Hurricane Ian caused lives to be ruined, we can take this moment to reflect and be thankful for having a safe place to call home. The Blue and White met with students, teachers, and administration to break down how the hurricane affected them emotionally and physically.

The RMS (Risk Management Company) estimates the total private market insured losses from Hurricane Ian to be between US$53 billion, and US$74 billion, with the best estimate of $67 billion. The RMS also presumes the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) could see an additional  $10 billion in losses from storm surges and inland flooding as a result of the event. Additionally, according to Axios, Hurricane Ian killed at least ninety-two people in Florida alone and counting, making it one of the deadliest storms to hit Florida. The ICEYE, a non-profit satellite imagery organization reported the data captured from their satellites collected on October 5th. It is reported that there were 358,850 properties in areas that Ian flooded, and about 13,363 citizens saw the water at least five feet or more on the west coast. In North Fort Myers 2,170 houses were destroyed, about 6,452 at Marco Island, and 5,855 in Naples, with winds as strong as 155 mph.

Apopka High School is fortunate to have our campus in good condition, so we are not having to adapt in order to get an education. Other areas in orange county have not been so fortunate. An orange county school called Riverdale Elementary met the unfortunate effects of those winds. Reports say that during Hurricane Ian the school has flooded up to one foot of water due to the overflowing of the Little Econ River. Students will recommence at East River High School until the water is fully cleared, dried, and the damages are fixed and sanitized. 

The Blue and White met up with Kedrick Gray, a Junior at Apopka high school to understand how the hurricane has affected him. “I can’t take my trash out the same, the hinges to my fence [are] broken. A couple of people’s power went out. I feel like the effect Hurricane Ian had on other people has made me feel grateful for like me having my power on during Hurricane Ian. Especially because there were people whose roofs came off during Hurricane Ian. There was a lot of debris that broke people’s windows, so it really gave me a newfound sense of gratefulness for actually being safe during the hurricane.”

Ms. Morris, our school grounds facilitator also had a few words to say. “One of my responsibilities is facilities, so as you know there were some damages on the campus. My responsibility is to make sure that all things that were damaged get reported so that we can get somebody here to get them fixed so, I have to rally up all orders and make sure that the grounds are picking up all the debris off of the campus.”

Ms. Morris then went on to explain how the hurricane has affected her outside of school. “We lost power for about 20 hours and lost some food but nothing serious. People were worse off than us, I think our family is blessed. For the students that were displaced from the elementary school, I think that it’s definitely unfortunate that they have to be moved to a high school. My concern is, of course, elementary students being mixed to, a high school but from what I’ve seen it was very well organized. And I know a lot of administration at East River so I know they’re going to take care of those students exceptionally well. I just hope that the students will stay strong and know that it’s not for long, and continue to do instructional work and get back to order as soon as possible. This is a time where everyone has to come together and support each other. It is a tough time for some people, and you know there’s people that are worse off than you, so you have to be grateful for the little bit that happened to you, or even just putting things into perspective, and just know that it’s not going to last.”

Mrs. Sanchez our Animal Science and Agriculture teacher also gave her input on Hurricane Ian. “We lost our power for ten hours but other than that we had no damage to our house or our neighborhood. A couple of branches down but nothing major. For people that have been affected by the hurricane, especially in southwest Florida. I feel absolutely terrible [for them] they have lost everything and have absolutely nothing left. It’s devastating to them and I’m just happy that it wasn’t so close to home.”

There is much understanding and condolences, to help those that have been affected by Hurrican Ian visit  https://www.fema.gov/disaster/hurricane-ian