Katherine Mockler was stuck having to choose between her academics and her home once she learned UF only canceled Thursday classes. Between not having enough time to go home and wanting to help her mother evacuate, Mockler felt stuck.
A day before Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 storm, UF announced on Wednesday around noon it would close from Thursday at midnight to 7 a.m. Friday.
It wasn’t until Thursday at 4:46 p.m. that UF canceled classes on Friday. By then, Hurricane Helene was already on its way, expected to hit Gainesville Thursday evening.
UF advised students in resident halls to stay in their dorms during the storm, and it had no plans to evacuate students during the storm. While the university said most dorms do not have impact-resistant windows or shutters, they are equipped with emergency generators to keep power running.
UF Spokesperson Cynthia Roldan said the university had nothing to add aside from the messages they have already sent.
Alachua County had declared a local state of emergency Tuesday afternoon. The City of Gainesville issued an evacuation order for residents in mobile homes, manufactured homes and other vulnerable homes Wednesday afternoon. Multiple general population shelters opened, including for residents with pets and special needs.
If UF had canceled Friday classes sooner, Mockler would have evacuated with her mother, who was by herself at their home on Davis Island, near Tampa.
The 18-year-old UF psychology freshman expected the university to cancel classes on Thursday and Friday. She said she wanted UF to announce a full campus closure by Tuesday, or Wednesday at the latest, to give students enough time to prepare for the storm, evacuate or help their families.
“They were placing these students’ academics in front of their physical and mental health,” Mockler said.
The lack of preparedness from the university made her feel like she had to pick between her exams and helping her mother, she said.
“My mom had to evacuate the entire house by herself, including many of our pets, many of our memories, our car, everything, and she only had to do it in eight hours,” she said.
Her home flooded, and her mom was left trying to get all the water out of their house.
While she didn’t lose power during the storm, she learned that anything less than a foot above the floor was ruined back home, she said. It was too soon for Mockler to go home to help in the cleanup because Davis Island was limiting the amount of residents on the island.
Mockler said she felt powerless.
“There was nothing I could do, and seeing so many people struggling, losing their homes, being in military vehicles being lifted out was very heartbreaking,” she said.
Mockler applied for an Aid-a-Gator grant because she knew she’d be on her own for some time after the storm. Aid-a-Gator is a financial assistance grant for students who need help with expenses after an emergency, including a hurricane. The grant can cover travel and technology costs, and other expenses students may need help with. The most a student can earn is $500.
“If UF canceled even 12 hours earlier, I would have been able to go home and evacuate more of my belongings and my pets,’” she said. “I would have been able to be there with my family.”
Justine Asman, a 20-year-old UF information systems junior, didn’t think the hurricane was going to be that serious. She figured buying water and filling her car with gas was enough to prepare.
Asman said in previous years she always spent too much preparing.
“I go the nine yards, and I felt like that’s a waste of time,” Asman said. “The one year that I don’t, my power has been out.”
She’s had to work in coffee shops to get working WiFi. The food in her refrigerator has gone bad. She’s noticed fallen powerlines and trees getting in the way of roads.
“It’s been hell, to say the least,” she said.
Asman was on the road when the hurricane hit and saw all the lights go black. On her way home, she found a tree that had crashed into a powerline.
She said she hopes UF will make decisions faster ahead of storms, especially since hurricane season lasts until Nov. 30.
“I would have gone home had Friday been canceled earlier,” she said. “I live four hours away. I can’t just pack up and leave.”
Jenna Loper, an 18-year-old UF mechanical engineering freshman, also said she was concerned about UF’s decisions during her first major storm away from home. Loper, who is from Georgia, learned her friends’ schools across the state line were canceled while UF still had classes.
“I was expecting more communication in the decision-making of what was happening,” Loper said.
Loper said she was relieved when UF finally canceled classes. She didn’t lose power either, but she knew of other students who were still trying to study for exams without power, she said.
“I feel so bad for people [whose] homes are gone, and they’re here because they weren’t able to go home in time,” she said.“There are a lot of people who have suffered from what has happened.”
Contact Delia Rose Sauer at drosesauer@alligator.org. Follow her on X @_delia_rose_.
Delia Rose Sauer is a junior journalism student and the Fall 2024 University General Assignment Reporter. This is her second semester on the University Desk. In her free time, she's drawing on Procreate, crocheting or exploring music genres.
