Student Centers Play Integral Role in Hurricane Helene Recovery

“It feels bad here,” said University of North Carolina—Asheville’s Jessica Inman. “But we know it’s worse off-campus,” said the senior director of campus life about the devastation left by Hurricane Helene in this area of western North Carolina.

Inman and her staff, working out of Highsmith Student Union, had been on campus since Thursday, September 26, and had transitioned from preparation and containment to emergency assistance, evacuation, and now, recovery. “At this point all of our residential students have been relocated, either with family, friends, somewhere safe. We have zero students left on campus.”

That was 1,200 residential students that were shuttled off campus while downed trees were removed, roads were cleared, and water was cleaned up. “But our building is in great shape, we had just a few minor leaks, and no buildings had any severe damage.”

Internet, cell, land line phone, and even campus radio service all were down on Saturday, the day after the storm hit, and by Sunday “truckload after truckload” of supplies from UNC—Asheville’s sister campuses were rolling in. East Caroline University even sent two foods trucks and left them there.

“Our entire ballroom in Highsmith is full of pallets of supplies,” Inman said. “We have had no electricity, no water, but we do have a million propane tanks.” With campus closed the student center was now serving as the service center for rescue workers – FEMA staff, firefights, and others – dishing out meals three times a day. Even off-campus students were showing up for food.

“We’re feeding all of our staff, students from around the campus, we did 150 plates to go for firefighters this morning,” she said. “Things like this can really bring out the best in people.”

Inman said she and fellow staff gather each evening to review the day’s work, “to laugh, and to cry,” and she thanked ACUI members for reaching out. “I got email back on my phone so with the amount of emails I’ve been getting from my fellow ACUI members and others, we are really feeling the love.”

Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina, was another campus that remained closed throughout the first week of October after Hurricane Helene. Operating at a Level III contingency (closure), the university asked that only essential personnel come to campus. And as was the case at many of these campuses, the A.K. Hinds University Center served as much more than the living room of campus during that time.

Coleman Leopard, assistant director of student programs at Hinds, on Tuesday said he and other staff had been operating the center at least 13 hours each day since Saturday, September 27, when record rainfall hit the area about 50 miles west of Asheville, North Carolina.

“Our campus remained safe with only minimal damage, but the surrounding area about two miles around town had heavy damage, roads closed, flooding,” Leopard said. “We did lose cell phone service on Saturday and just got it back yesterday (Monday).”

Unlike the situation at UNC—Asheville, where all communications were down, it was quickly learned that the land lines at Hinds Center were still working, so staff and student volunteers immediately went to work setting up a call center, lining up over 15 land line phones in a conference room.

“You know students, we had some extreme worriers,” Leopard said.

Within the course of the day over 1,000 students had streamed into the call center to connect with parents and other family members and confirm their well-being. “We got other campus partners involved so that word got out and as many students as possible were served.

Since the surrounding community remained in a boil water advisory, Hinds Center also provided water, drinks, and snacks to community members, and teams of students shuttled out to the county airport to unload small planes that had been loaded with rescue supplies.

“We had alumni flying in with their Cessna airplanes bring supplies, so our students were out their off-loading supplies,” Leopard said.

Plemmons Student Union at Appalachian State University provided the same services, giving away free bottled water and food, along with electricity, showers, Wi-Fi service, and other supplies, and at the University of North Carolina–Asheville, student affairs staff were working one-on-one to determine which students needed relocation off of campus. Classes there were suspended until at least October 9.

In front of UNC–Asheville’s Highsmith Student Union a makeshift emergency supplies tent was also erected on Reed Plaza to distribute meals, water, and other supplies. University Chancellor Kimberly van Noort said “conditions at UNC–Asheville are difficult. Significant tree damage has occurred, and parts of campus are inaccessible. Everyone is safe.”

As recovery operations got underway in western North Carolina on Monday, Florida universities were opening back up after closing in advance of Hurricane Helene. Florida A&M University was the first to close, on Tuesday, September 24, and most other major campuses like Florida State University and the University of Florida closed a day or two later.

“I am proud of our university leadership who took decisive steps to protect our more than 430,000 students and the campuses that were in the path of Hurricane Helene. It is thanks to their action and the work of numerous staff members that our students were safe throughout the storm and all of our campuses were able to reopen,” said State University System of Florida Chancellor Ray Rodrigues. “Thank you to Governor DeSantis for his leadership during and after the storm and first responders for their dedication to supporting Florida’s recovery efforts.”

At Clemson University, near Clemson, South Carolina, power was lost when the hurricane hit there Friday evening, but because the university electric lines were primarily underground and power was quickly restored, enough so that over 80,000 people attended the Clemson football game on Saturday against Stanford University.

“The decision to host Saturday’s game came after a detailed evaluation of the impacts of the storm, with a primary focus on the ability to safely host our opponents and fans on campus,” Clemson University said in a statement. “City of Clemson and Clemson University officials, as well as first responders across the state have worked tirelessly in their recovery efforts thus far. We look forward to aiding in the community efforts for recovery.”