 "Photo: www.cnn.com")
Hurricane Ivan's arrival in the United States on Wednesday evening forced millions of residents out of the Gulf Coast region of the southern states including the Florida panhandle, Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi.
For many Howard students from the South, their families were a part of the mass evacuation.
"I have an aunt who lives in Memphis, Tennessee and every time there is a hurricane that's where we go," said Danielle Boveland, a sophomore public relations major from New Orleans. "There are a lot of us -aunts, uncles, cousins- it's like a big caravan."
Others were not lucky enough to find shelter from the impending storms as easily. With millions of residents leaving on short notice, traffic was at a near standstill and hotels were booked for miles.
"My mom and my grandparents drove to Arkansas because it was the only place in the vicinity where there were hotels available," said junior Jennifer Moore from New Orleans. "It's usually a four-hour drive but it took them 14 hours to get there."
In addition to New Orleans, residents of Mobile, Ala. were ordered to evacuate the city on Tuesday to avoid the brunt of the storm predicted to hit the area Wednesday night and into Thursday morning.
"The whole city was evacuated on Tuesday so my family went to stay with family," said Kevin Tyson, a junior physical education from Mobile. "We don't have too many storms hit us but this one could be serious."
Other areas, which are not expected to be affected as harshly as New Orleans and Mobile, precautions were being taken just in case.
"My friends that go to Southern Mississippi [University] are out of school until Monday and a lot of people are coming over from New Orleans," said senior Natalie Noble, a native of Natchez, Miss. "My family isn't leaving because it is only supposed to rain in Natchez."
Hurricane Ivan has made Moore a little more uneasy than her previous experiences dealing with hurricanes.
"They are expecting 34 feet of rain," Moore said. "My street has been flooded before but not my house, that's what I'm most worried about. The cars and stuff are in the garage and they are ok but not the house."
The fickleness of storms in the past leave other natives such as Boveland indifferent about the possible impact of Ivan.
"Hurricanes are really unpredictable and you will never know which they will go," Boveland. "Hurricane George was supposed to come straight at New Orleans but at the last minute it turned, this one is no different."
While the effects of Hurricane Ivan on the U.S. are yet to be seen, it has left a trail of ruin through the Caribbean with over 60 dead and millions of dollars worth of damage to islands including Grenada, Cuba, and the Cayman Islands, according to CNN.com.
"The part of the island where my family wasn't affected, but, I have friends who were hit hard on the other islands," said Danette Morrison, a junior psychology major from Jamaica.
As a relief effort, various organizations, including the Howard Plaza Towers community outreach committee, are collecting items that would be helpful to the residents of Grenada who were hit the hardest by the hurricane.
