Hurricanes and tropical storms are not unusual to me as a life-long South Carolinian. Our state experiences one almost every year. Hurricane Helene, however, was an exceptional event for myself and other students.
In the days after the storm I witnessed fallen trees, destroyed cars, near-record flooding and disrupted lives. The damage was unlike anything in recent memory. My own family went without power or water for a week.
I spoke with affected students from across Columbia and South Carolina. They told me the experience was “surreal” and that they were “shocked.” From their stories, I wrote an article for The Daily Gamecock on the impacts to USC students.
Then Hurricane Milton came. At its peak strength, the storm was one of the most powerful recorded in the Atlantic basin. Tampa was spared from a category five, but had only just begun to recover from Helene when it struck. Tampa was hit twice in the span of two weeks.
Meanwhile, victims of Helene were recovering throughout the Southeast. Many are still recovering now, from one or both of the storms.
The Daily Gamecock recognized that our coverage had to expand. We wanted to learn how students across our region were impacted, and what influenced these storms’ catastrophic effects.
To do this, our news team reached out to collegiate newspapers across the Southeast.
What resulted was a collaboration between three student newspapers who sought out students whose experiences spoke not only to their own, but to those of their peers and students whose ordeals lasted long after the storms themselves.
We also spoke with faculty experts in the climate, hurricane and environmental sciences. We learned that climate change played a major role in exacerbating the strength of the storms.
Our article compiles the stories of several students from our three schools. Alongside them are the voices of experts, providing context to how climate change had an impact on the 2024 hurricane season.
On behalf of everyone who participated in this project, I’m proud of what we have accomplished. Not only have we presented valuable human stories, we have illustrated the storms' connection to climate change. We have spoken with students directly impacted, witnessed damages and documented them. We have learned how hurricanes form, move and affect our region.
This experience has shown me the value in expanding beyond the campus beat, and I appreciate the time and effort that my peers at The Minaret and The Paladin gave to this project.
Sincerely,
Hayden Davis, news writer