As Hurricane Ian swept through Florida, Pinellas County was extremely lucky to not get hit too badly; however, the storm did end up hitting Fort Myers, Pine Island, and Sarasota County. Some Warriors evacuated to other areas when the storm was headed to Pinellas.  Even though it made a direct hit southwest, some students still felt the effects.

Nicholas, 12th grade, said that due to the hurricane, he ended up “losing power for three days.” Many other people around the county lost power as a result to the hurricane too.

Some people prepared and bought different supplies. Keiji, 12th grade, said, “You should make sure you have the right supplies, such as hurricane shutters, medical kits, and food that won’t go bad quickly.” People around Florida were scrambling to find supplies for their families to prepare for the worst. Ms. DeAtley, language arts teacher, said that she “made sure to
have enough water and I constantly kept up with the news to know what’s going on.” Watching the news can be informative to know which direction the hurricane may go in because they are
so unpredictable. Kennedy, 9th grade, said that she also “got food and water”, and that she has done “nothing different to prepare from past hurricanes.” Lily, 9th grade, bought similar
supplies. “I went to Publix to get supplies. I stocked on water and more food.” It seems many people across the state bought multiples case of water, non-perishable food, and sources of light
for their homes. Although our county was fortunate that Ian didn’t directly hit our county, many citizens of Florida’s houses were destroyed. People in our county want to help the people who
were hit directly by Hurricane Ian by giving supplies and raising money. Several teachers collected food, paper products, tools and other items at school, and they planned trips by boat to deliver the supplies themselves.