ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — In-person classes resumed at Eckerd College on Monday morning for the first time since the campus was evacuated prior to Hurricane Helene in September.

Tonya Womack, the college’s Executive Director of Risk Management and Safety, says the campus sustained some damage in the back-to-back hurricanes.

What You Need To Know

  • Flooding impacted some academic buildings during Hurricane Helene 

  • Wind damaged some structures and trees during Hurricane Milton

  • More than 80% of Eckerd students are from out of state

  • Just shy of 90% of undergrads live on campus 

  • View more Hurricane Milton coverage

During Hurricane Helene, storm surge brought water from Boca Ciega Bay into some of the academic buildings and residence halls. The hurricane also affected power, air conditioning units, and the school’s network. A remediation company worked to clean the affected buildings and as the campus was almost ready to reopen they were hit with Hurricane Milton.

“After we got back from Helene, we knew about 70% of our buildings were up online but then Milton happened and kind of knocked us back down,” Womack said. “So we’re still trying to get it all back on, we have power across campus except one or two buildings but that doesn’t delay us from reopening our campus.”

Hurricane Milton brought wind damage and some water intrusion from wind-swept rain. The school’s iconic ‘teaching tree’ lost a major limb and one of the dining halls had damage to its outdoor structure.

Students were told they had to be off campus by mid-day on September 25 to prepare for Hurricane Helene and were welcomed to move back to campus on October 26, just over one month later. Remote instruction and classes continued as the campus remained closed.

Only 17% of Eckerd’s roughly 1,900 students are residents of Florida, which Womack says poses some unique challenges when an evacuation order is in place. Almost 90% of students live on campus.