By Raychael Moseley/ Managing Editor

While Missouri Valley College’s campus is far from the ocean, many of its students call the beaches of Florida home. With hurricane season rolling in with two monster hurricanes at category three (Milton) and four (Helene), these students are feeling the effects.

Grad Student and Assistant Cheer Coach Morgan Middleton is a Tampa native who has been through hurricanes before.  

“I was born and raised a Tampa girl. Hurricane season was just a really bad storm, and my family and I were always lucky with minimal damage during hurricane season,” she said. “When Irma came in 2017, I remember not having power or water for at least a week, grocery stores were empty, and my friends’ houses around me were not as lucky as my family and I were.”

However, after leaving home to come to Missouri Valley, Middleton found the anxiety of hurricane season overtaking her thoughts. 

“For some reason, when hurricane season came around, and I was in school in Missouri, the stress intensified. It’s not really just a bad storm anymore. Milton just came right through Tampa Bay and had me checking the radar like it was social media,” she said. “My family isn’t large, but my entire family is in Tampa Bay, and the thoughts in my head wouldn’t stop leading up to Milton’s landfall. Something that I had been so used to became the most nerve-wracking thing to just wait and hope my family would be okay while I was 1000 miles away in Missouri. The storm caused the most damage my hometown has seen in years, Thankfully, my family is okay and had minimal damage.”

Sophomore Chloeanne Vico is from Miami, who also felt anxious for family and friends back home.

“Being from Florida and having experienced major hurricanes in my life, it is extremely difficult not to be there. Watching the stress and worry from the outside gave me such a guilty feeling. Not being able to help or be there with my family and friends was something I never experienced,” she said. “Hurricane Irma made us in Miami lose power for ten days. It was difficult, but at least I was with my family. Hurricane season hit Florida hard this year, and being at MoVal felt safe, but, as weird as it may sound, it made me worry even more than if I had been at home.”

Football player Wyatt Nordean also expressed worry for his family.

“I’m from Jacksonville, Florida. Usually multiple times a year during hurricane season the city shuts down for a couple of days, sometimes putting us without power for up to a week” he said. “Essentials are hard to find at stores because everyone buys them in bulk. It sucks not being there to help with family when times are hard during hurricanes.”

Many more students are affected by hurricane season than just these. To find out how you can help with disaster relief, please visit https://www.redcross.org/about-us/our-work/disaster-relief/hurricane-relief.html#:~:text=When%20a%20hurricane%20or%20tropical,food%20and%20comfort%20to%20families.