Hurricanes Take the U.S. by Storm

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High winds, thousands of people without power and devastating flooding are all outcomes of the horrific hurricanes that struck the United States. One after the other, Hurricanes Harvey and Irma took the U.S. by surprise and destroyed the lives of many Americans.

Hurricane Harvey struck the United States on Aug. 25 and lasted until Sep. 2. Harvey’s devastation estimated about 75 billion dollars in damage and left 30,000 people in need of temporary shelter.

In response to this disaster, Wesleyan collected donations from families and faculty. These donations included diapers, canned goods and clothing, as well as financial aid to the families in need. After collecting all the donations, Wesleyan gave them to United Methodist Committee on Relief, which gives 100 percent of all the donations to hurricane victims. Junior Garrett Huggins said, “I am so thankful to be involved in a community where we all come together in times of crisis as one family to help those in need.”

Shortly after Harvey struck the U.S., Hurricane Irma did not hesitate to make a grand entrance. Irma hit the United States on Sept. 10 and continued up through Florida into Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. The devastation from Irma left an estimated 7.3 million people without power.

A Florida resident, Evan Waddy, said, “The storm flooded our apartment and we still have no power. It could be weeks until it comes back on.” A large majority of Florida residents were not able to return home and see the damage due to the state trying to clean up the areas.

Irma has also significantly affected the Wesleyan community. A large portion of the students and faculty were without power, making school attendance very difficult. School was canceled on Monday and Tuesday due to the storm as Wesleyan diligently attempted to get everyone back to a normal school routine.

Irma and Harvey caused significant damage to the United States and their trail of destruction will be difficult to repair. These two back-to-back hurricanes damaged people’s lives. As Texas resident and Hurricane Harvey survivor Daniel Whitmire said, “Devastating doesn’t even begin to describe what has happened here.” Whitmire and his family stayed in Houston during Hurricane Harvey and survived. Unfortunately, their house was mutilated by the storm and many of their belongings were destroyed. This was just one family out of millions that was affected by Hurricane Harvey.

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