Disastrous Weather of 2017
Natural disasters across America and into Mexico, how it affects students at Lake Stevens High School
September 20th, Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico with a category 4 strength. A month after the hurricane they are still struggling to regain what Hurricane Maria destroyed. “Yeah it was pretty crazy,” states Kaya Barker.
One of the worst hurricane seasons in history is in progress now. Hurricane season of 2017 has caused damage along the Southeast Coast and the Gulf Coast in the South since early September and won’t end until early November. Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Jose and Maria are four of the seven hurricanes that have reached over Category 3 within this season.
As this is all happening along the Southeast Coast, students here at LSHS are affected because of family members or friends who live on the coast. Students may worry about them being hurt or their living environment being destroyed due to the hurricanes.
Junior Kaya Barker is a temporary student here at LSHS. She lives in Puerto Rico originally, but due to the category 4 hurricane, her brother and she are living here in Lake Stevens with their Aunt for a couple of weeks.
“There’s no water and electricity, and there’s not much food, and [it’s] really hard to get gas,” Barker said.
The hurricane lasted approximately 24 hours over Puerto Rico with over 155 mph winds. As Puerto Rico regains electricity, water, food and gas, Barker and her brother will return to Puerto Rico.
Sophomore Grace Brown has friends who live in Texas and were affected by Hurricane Harvey. The hurricane caused flooding and damage across the state of Texas. Brown shared that her friend’s family is currently living in a mobile home.
“[It is] unstable for them, of housing right now and I know it’s flooded. And they’re already struggling financially and they are trying to figure out what to do,” Brown states.
Even if you don’t know someone personally like sophomore Isabelle Augustine who has a friend she met online who lives in Puerto Rico, you can still be affected. Augustine expressed her concern for the safety of her friend when the power went out in Puerto Rico due to the hurricane and Augustine didn’t hear from her friend for a few days.
Events all around the world can affect students at LSHS and the people of Washington State. To help out you can donate to the American Red Cross at http://www.redcross.org/.
