NBC26 — Hurricane Ian is now ripping through parts of Florida. NBC 26 was able to chat with one University of Tampa student, who is a Wisconsin native and has chosen to wait out the storm.
Haley Faul is originally from Fond du Lau Faul and has spent the last three years in Tampa for school.
“I have been here three years now and I've never seen anything to this extent. We get tropical storms where we get a lot of rain and wind but nothing too crazy," said Faul.
NBC 26 spoke to Faul around 3 p.m. CT and at that point, she said that her University is still doing well.
“Right now we are just experiencing some rain and high winds, but I don’t think it's been anything like how they said it was going to be.”
However, the Hurricane switched course a few times and moved more south away from Tampa. Faul says that she has heard a mix of reactions to the storm.
“Some people started leaving as soon as they were told to, while others have said ‘I have lived here my whole life, I’m not leaving,’’ she said, “but this is also supposed to be something that this part of Florida has not seen in over 100 years. I don't think anyone really knows what to expect.”
Although Faul and her roommate have decided to wait out the storm they are still prepared in case the storm gets too bad.
“My roommate and I have two dogs and a cat so we have all their stuff in a bag, like food, medication stuff like that,” she said. “We also have stuff to throw our own clothing into a bag and get going, if we need to.”
Luckily she has been able to keep in close contact with her family here in Wisconsin through social media.
There is a handful of Wisconsinites that are prepared to travel to Florida as part of the Red Cross Wisconsin disaster relief team. You can read more about their efforts here.
