FSU, FAMU students were ‘nervous’ ahead of Hurricane Idalia, some say ‘it was nothing new’

Life goes on for many of the students on Florida State and Florida A&M universities’ campuses after Hurricane Idalia gave many students a six-day holiday weekend.

At FSU’s Landis Green Thursday afternoon, students played a game of volleyball while others laid out blankets to hang out with friends.

Meanwhile at FAMU, the Marching 100 band wasted no time and got back to their usual rehearsals in preparation for football season that will be kicking off soon, with tunes such as Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got to do with it” and Beyonce’s “Cuff It” filling the campus atmosphere.

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Hurricane Idalia made landfall in Florida Wednesday morning as a high-end Category 3 hurricane with strong winds and storm surge.

Areas including Taylor County as well as the towns of Perry and Steinhatchee felt the hurricane’s intense blow, which left residents and their communities with flooding, fallen trees and destroyed homes.

Tallahassee did not feel Idalia’s wrath as much as expected since the storm’s track shifted eastward while approaching the Big Bend early Wednesday.

But FAMU freshman Mylah Lee — a Texas native who is not used to the well-known Florida hurricanes — was concerned about the possible impacts.

“I was very nervous. Where I’m from, we don’t get hit with major hurricanes like the ones in Florida, so I didn’t know what to expect,” said Lee, 18. “I didn’t know how bad it would be.”

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FAMU freshmen (left to right) Myah Lee, Jasmine Chisanga, Autumn Flowers and Arianna Young stayed on the university’s campus during Hurricane Idalia.

Chicago, Illinois native Autumn Flowers, another freshman at FAMU, says the Florida hurricane was also a first for her.

“I’m used to having tornado alerts and just sitting in my basement whenever they’re close to the area, but I’ve never experienced hurricanes before,” said 18-year-old Flowers. “At the same time, I wasn’t too scared because a lot of people I’ve met here described it as just a big storm.”

She added that she was a bit worried about her food spoiling if there happened to be a power outage, but she was fortunate enough to still have power the whole time at her residence hall on campus during the storm.

Following Hurricane Idalia, 20,000 homes or businesses were powerless Wednesday evening. But by the end of the day Thursday, less than 1,000 were still without power.

Electrical linemen work on power lines beside U.S. 98 in Dixie County, Florida on August 31, 2023. Dixie County was one of several counties in Florida’s Big Bend that Hurricane Idalia left almost completely without power after making landfall on the morning of August 30.

In a university release, FAMU President Larry Robinson stated, “there appears to be no major damage or loss of power on the Tallahassee main campus” and that debris such as fallen trees were being cleared by crew members.

FSU sounded a similar message.

“Now that Hurricane Idalia is behind us, I’m pleased to report that there were minimal impacts to the FSU campus,” FSU President Richard McCullough said in a prepared statement. “Thanks to everyone in the FSU family, especially our outstanding emergency management team.”

The universities along with Tallahassee Community College closed their campuses and canceled classes as the storm approached the Big Bend area, and they expect to resume normal operations Tuesday following the Labor Day holiday Monday.

While out-of-state students on the college campuses are experiencing Florida’s hurricane season for the first time, students like FSU freshman Jinnie Hong — who has lived in Florida all her life — were not worried.

“Hurricanes are always hitting us,” said Hong, a Gainesville native. “I saw some students going home, but I didn’t really react because I knew I’d be fine.”

FSU freshmen Noah Kim (left) and Jinnie Hong (right) stayed on campus during hurricane Idalia.

Hong and her friend Noah Kim still took the initiative of stocking up by grocery shopping at the convenience store on campus and buying additional necessities at Walmart.

“I’ve lived in Florida for about eight years, so I’m used to it,” said Kim, an FSU freshman from West Palm Beach. “I still wanted to keep track of it just in case, so I stayed up all night watching the storm’s path on YouTube since I couldn’t sleep.”

“It was a bit hectic, but it was nothing new,” he added.

With school being back in session Tuesday after a mini hiatus due to the storm, the students can look forward to football season starting Sunday with FSU playing against Louisiana State University at 7:30 p.m. and FAMU taking on Jackson State University at 3 p.m.

Contact Tarah Jean at tjean@tallahassee.com or follow her on twitter @tarahjean_.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU and FAMU students react to Hurricane Idalia hitting Tallahassee