Hurricane Ian began on Sept. 23 and is now making its way from Cuba to the United States, hitting Florida and South Carolina last week. 

Governor Ron DeSantis ordered an evacuation order for 12 counties in Florida, and since, Ian has been identified as a Category 3 hurricane. 

“The most important thing we need to focus on is keeping people safe,” freshman Francesca Lauterbach said. “We also need to make sure we are finding victims and giving them resources to evacuate and find safe havens,” 

Companies like USA.GOV and hundreds of others have been offering resources to those who need it during this time. 

“While we personally are not affected by the hurricanes, we still have to work to support the victims, especially if they’re in our country,” freshman Elizabeth Fox said.  “We still need to help and find ways to do our part so that people who were affected by Hurricane Ian can return to their everyday lives and undo the damage that was left,”

There have been many debates on the government’s ability to control evacuations. Because of this, evacuations were put on hold in places like in Lee County, causing the death toll to reach 93, according to NPR. 

The government still has a lot of work to do, according to Lauterbach. The death rate hasn’t stopped increasing and the damage has become very serious.

“The government needs to issue evacuation orders sooner and more efficiently so that people can stay safe,” Lauterbach said. “First, they need to find the people who are lost or hurt, then they can focus on rebuilding and restoring all the damage that was caused.”