Last week, a storm of students’ thoughts about Hurricane Florence’s impact on our area was full force in the CHC community. After being reintroduced to the flow of the Cape Henry atmosphere, students had a lot to say about their week off of school for a storm that barely resulted in a drop of rain in Virginia Beach. 

 

The most common response to the question of how Florence affected student lives was the amount of homework assigned. Complaints filled the hallways on Monday; students seen rushing to complete their homework for next bell despite their one week break. The majority of the students’ opinions were verbalized through both Rachael Sifen (’20) and Abbey Trinidad (’20), sighing when asked how the hurricane affected their lives, followed by “so much homework”. Rachael added that the homework load “rained down on her harder than Florence itself.”

 

However, the hurricane did not impact Virginia Beach in the way most thought it would: with heavy floods, untamable winds, and devastation. All of those avoided the area, and unfortunately landed at the feet of North Carolina and South Carolina, who received the brunt of the storm. Fortunately, neither Rachael nor Abbey have family or friends residing in either state. Abbey stated it was “great that it didn’t hit us,” but it made her “sad to see the aftermath of the storm for other people when it could’ve easily been us or someone close to us.”

 

Both Rachael and Abbey conceded that they had not aided in the hurricane relief efforts, but Rachael said she was “definitely planning on it.”  Neither student evacuated, as Abbey was located in zone D, and Rachael in zone C, farthest from zone A, from where most people evacuated. 

 

When asked whether they would rather have had the storm hit Virginia Beach rather than having a week free with no rain, Rachael was sympathetic towards the neighboring states, but commented that “after seeing the damage,” she “wouldn’t want her” – referring to the Florence – “to have hit here,” a statement with which Abbey solemnly agreed.