$17-22 billion is roughly how much it will cost to fix the damage Hurricane Florence has caused. As the storm weakens, it continues to grow and produce a drastic storm surge, leading force evacuations for most of the US east coast. For a recent PLHS graduate this means evacuating his college.  

2018 graduate Trevor Lewis was forced out of his college at Coastal Carolina University (CCU) and is staying in his home here in Papillion until it is safe to go back. 

“Official University evacuation was on the 11th, but we were told about it on the 9th and most people started leaving the following day,” Lewis said. 

The idea of leaving a freshly moved in dorm can be frustrating but was imperative with the substantial rainfalls and flooding moving into South Carolina. 

“At first, I was pretty excited [to hear about the hurricane] because I’ve lived through tornadoes, Lewis said. “but when I actually had to pack up and prep my dorm for extreme flooding and evacuation, I started getting anxious,” Lewis said. 

Hurricane Florence has recently downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone but still carries strong winds and heavy rains. For now, Lewis will stay with friends and family. 

“[The school] will give us a 24-hour notice before classes will start again,” Lewis said.  

CCU has recently put out a public statement regarding their position during this storm stating that the flooded communities around them make it hard to access the college and asking students to be patient. 

“It won’t be very hard to go back and get back to the grind,” Lewis said. “I’m ready to go back.” 

As the week progresses, the damage still grows as rivers rise and heavy flood waters continue to swipe out anything in its way. Luckily for CCU they received little damage making it safe for Lewis to return back to his studies once the communities around the college are cleared.