Storms happen every day but sometimes, a hurricane happens instead. I have always had at least one family member with me during a major storm. When Hurricane Irma had hit, I knew it was going to be an interesting time because I personally suffer from anxiety and do not sleep well without power.
The week leading up to Hurricane Irma, I was tracking the storm nonstop. Every map that had her coming closer to campus increased my nerves even more than the last. I knew she was going to make an appearance sometime during the following week. I was not quite sure how long I would have to prepare, but I knew she would appear soon enough. After living in Louisiana for several years, I thought I would be more prepared than I actually was.
I was expecting power outages, but I was not expecting a loss of internet the entire time. Only having internet in the dining hall really messed with my head. There was no way I would be able to stay in the dining hall for several days on end just to work on any assignments. I was already prepared to not sleep much, but I was not prepared to be woken up by the ghost of the Old Man who lives in Pearce shortly after falling asleep. Eventually, part of my dorm building had power, so I would finally be able to get some sleep in another friend’s room. I also dealt with multiple anxiety attacks because I could not always get in touch with my parents.
I did not think I would have as hard of a time as I did, but unfortunately I was wrong. Hearing the tree on the front lawn had almost hit Harriet really spiked my anxiety. After she narrowly avoided being hit early on during the storm, I began getting very anxious, and then more trees continued to fall all over campus, including a giant one near the library.
Eventually after the storm had cleared up and the clean-up process around campus began, I took a walk and saw some of the damage. Possibly one of the funniest damages was a sign that was broken and wound up in a tree. Even though I noticed the broken sign well after the storm was over, my nerves finally began to ease up. Recovering from Hurricane Irma has taken my mentality the past week and a half to fully recover, but losing the sense of normality in my life threw me off. I am glad I am finally getting back into the swing of things again.