The time leading up to the arrival of hurricane Irma was a very scary time for many Floridians. People worried about their homes, families, pets, possessions, and even safety. However, many who prepared extensively for Irma failed to consider what they were going to have to deal with after it was gone. While Bradenton was lucky, and most Saint Stephen’s students were able to go back to their old lives once the hurricane had passed, some students found that they had to face new difficulties. Here are the stories of two students who had to deal with the effects of Irma.

Jackie Schlossberg, a Saint Stephen’s freshman, did not stay in Bradenton during the storm. Instead, she and her family boarded up their house and evacuated to Georgia. When they got back after the storm, they found out that their house had lost power. Unfortunately for them, it took seven days for their power to return, forcing them to deal with several problems. One of the main problems they had was with food. Since they did not have a working fridge or freezer, they had to eat non-perishable food, which they had wisely stocked up on before the hurricane.

However, the food they stocked up was all they had, as they were not able to go to restaurants or grocery stores, since they were closed. This was not the only problem Jackie and her family faced; they also did not have access to a working dishwasher or washing machine, meaning that they were not able to wash their clothes or use dishes without having to wash them by hand. Finally, one problem that Jackie especially complained about was the difficulty she had doing homework in the evening.

Without lights, it was hard for her to see her work after the sun went down. She said that on nights when she had a large amount of homework, she could be seen sitting at her dining table with “like, five candles around me.” However, despite facing these problems, Jackie and her family managed to survive the seven days after their return to Florida and now have power once again.

Jackie was not the only one who had to deal with a power outage. Carter Beckstein and his family also had no power for eight days after the storm. They spent the first night after the hurricane at a friend’s house on Longboat Key, which, surprisingly, still had power. After that, when they realized they still did not have power, they stayed at his grandparents’ house – and later their condo – until their power finally returned.

Even though they did not have to live in their house while the power was out, they still had to deal with some difficulties. One was taking care of their two cats, which they had left at their house. They had to regularly visit to make sure that they were adequately fed and were doing okay in the heat caused by a lack of air conditioning.

Another thing they had to deal with was food. Unfortunately, they had lost most of the food in their fridge and freezer, so they had to live off of freezer foods which they had brought to the condo, such as bagel bites, and food from restaurants. Finally, when asked what he found most inconvenient during the time he had no power, Carter replied that he wasn’t able to play Destiny 2, a new game which had just come out. Fortunately, he was able to bring his X-box to the condo, “but definitely it was annoying perhaps,” he said, “to not have power simply from a gaming perspective.”

In conclusion, there were many who had to deal with difficulties after losing power during Irma. However, the damage caused by the hurricane was much less than what was expected, and those who lost power only had to deal with these problems for a short time until their power came back. Now, except for a few fallen trees and damaged roofs, Bradenton is back to normal, and all of the students here at Saint Stephen’s can finally get back to their normal lives.