“I just want everyone to be safe and take care of each other. That’s really all I can think of right now,” Jimenez said. “I’ve been tracking the storm on my computer and honestly I’m really scared.”
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Jimenez was hanging out in Wright State’s office of Latino affairs on Tuesday with several other students from the island who spoke to this news organization. Both WSU and the University of Dayton have students from the territory.
UD has 93 students from Puerto Rico on campus and even has a Puerto Rico alumni society with more than 200 grads in the area, according to the school’s website.
The storm has the potential to do significant damage to Puerto Rico and Jimenez said she’s worried that it could impact the territory’s tourism industry. Her family owns some beachfront apartments they rent out that she fears could be severley damaged.
Jimenez said she’s been in constant communication with her family, something she said may not be possible after the storm hits.
If Irma slams into Puerto Rico, it could cause island-wide power outages that last for months, according to reports. That would mean limited access to cell phones and the internet for Jimenz’s family and the 3.4 million residents of Puerto Rico.
Luckily though, Jimenez said she’s made several friends at Wright State who are also from Puerto Rico who she can lean on over the next several weeks.
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“I need the support…They’re what’s keeping me together right now,” she said.
Roberto Clemente-Rosa, a WSU junior studying mechanical engineering, is also from Puerto Rico.
Clemente-Rosa said his grandparents and cousins live up in the mountains on the island. His grandparents’ house will likely be able to withstand the storm since it is made of concrete and brick but his cousin’s home, which is built out of wood, will almost certainly be destroyed, he said.
“It’s a small island. I know when…hits the fan that people will come together and they will be fine,” he said.
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