On Tuesday, October 4th, most of the students and teachers at Academic Magnet High School were not expecting to learn that they would not be returning until the following week. Hurricane Matthew was forecasted to hit Charleston County from Friday evening until Saturday morning. Nikki Haley, governor of South Carolina, urged many cities to evacuate and prepare their homes for the hurricane. Today we will look into how different students and staff at AMHS decided to take action at the news of the storm.

Ms. Novinger: ” I went to Columbia. I rested and worried and took care of my dogs and my cats were unhappy.”

Ms. Lankford: “I was ashamed because I knew that my family would be ok, but people in other places would not.”

Ms. Hoofstetter: “I had to go to West Ashley. We played cards, we played monopoly. My son beat us. The card game was called 99 and it was really fun. Watched a lot of football.”

Coach Williams: “I went to Charlotte. No damage, some debris. Nothing devastating. I didn’t have any light when I came home.”

Sarah Cate Demos: “I had a hurricane party. We watched football.”

Evan Dockery: “I worked a lot, made $200 cleaning yards. Didn’t do anything illegal.”

Giorgio Cracchiolo: “Oh. I wanted to stay at home, but they took me straight to Columbia.”

Zoe Wright: “We went to Sumter. The power and the water went out so I don’t know why we even evacuated.”

Although Hurricane Matthew was devastating for many, some good things did result from the storm. One benefit of the hurricane was the extension of the Friday thesis deadline to October 21st. Many other teachers also decided to push back certain assignments and examinations due to the fact that many still did not have power or wifi.

It is important to take into consideration that may places were not as fortunate as Charleston County. In particular, Myrtle Beach and many cities in North Carolina faced extensive structural damage and flooding. Haiti was also among the worst hit by the storm. They are still recovering and facing the trauma that the winds of up to 130 mph caused.