As the threat of Hurricane Helene grew, Prospect alumni Oliwia Lesniak had two options. She could stay at the University of Florida with four of her roommates, or she could follow in the footsteps of her fifth roommate — and many other students from the university — and leave the state to avoid the hurricane. Ultimately, Lesniak decided to stay and ride out the storm.

“I was a bit scared because I didn’t know how bad it was gonna be,” Lesniak said. “I didn’t know, really, what to expect.”

Hurricane Helene made landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida on Thursday, moving up through Georgia and the Carolinas bringing massive destruction in its wake. According to AP News, the hurricane has killed at least 125 people and millions of people are without power.

“Thursday morning they said that anybody who was planning on leaving shouldn’t leave anymore, just because of [how bad] the conditions [were],” Lesniak said.

The possibility of hurricanes crossed Lesniak’s mind several times when imagining where she would go to school. This led to her choosing a school further inland, as opposed to one on the coast. 

Coming from the Midwest, Lensiak has had no experience with hurricanes of any sorts. The worst things she has had to deal with are a few bad storms during the warmer months and snow covered roads in the winter. Furthermore, she’s a freshman in college who is still trying to figure things out.

“I’ve never been here alone without any family… my parents or anything,” Lesniak said, “so I was a bit nervous… [about] that.”

Fortunately for Lesniak, there was not a lot of damage done to the campus itself. According to the University of Florida, the school had only experienced some minor damage — like downed trees — and expects students to return to class starting this week. 

“I’m just glad we are okay,” Lesniak said, “because I know other schools like Florida State University were hit harder.”