I Relive The Storm When Heavy Rain Falls

By Davaughnia Wilson | Published by October 20, 2021

The first day of school was like no other this year as Tropical Storm Ida charged through causing floods, unexpected traffic, uprooted trees, devastation, fright, and canceled classes.

Students, faculty, and staff were caught in the storm, and most of them had to either drive home or spend the night on campus either with a friend or alone in Bartlett Hall, a residence hall on campus.

Gov. Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency Wednesday night as Tropical Storm Ida battered the state, causing flooding and power outages.

While students were concerned about their own safety, some were more concerned about the safety of their loved ones.

DeSean Carter, a commuter student majoring in Business Management explained that he was more concerned about the safety of his dad that had to drive home to Rahway from Elizabeth.

“The last thing I wanted was for him to be stuck somewhere in traffic in the middle of the night, or for him to be in his car submerged in water,” said Carter.  “I was just concerned about him making it home safely, I knew I would be fine, I just didn’t know his state.”

Brianna Crenshaw, a Junior majoring in Forensic Psychology with a minor in Criminal Justice, explained that she works on campus and after her shift ended at 8 pm, she was stranded in her car because Hutchinson’s parking lot was flooded.

“I was extremely anxious as it had been my first flood that I’ve ever really encountered,” said Crenshaw. “I was concerned about my safety and my car because the water was rising so quickly, and the rain was not supposed to stop anytime soon.”

Crenshaw said that her car was parked on a high slope and her position allowed her to see other cars trying to make it out of the parking lot.

“Some made it through, but most turned around once they realized the water was too high. As the night went on the water kept rising and moving towards the outskirts of the parking lot,” said Crenshaw.

After receiving several flash flood warnings on her cellphone, she was concerned about going home but she didn’t think much of it until the heavy rains and floods started.

An email sent that night by university relations read, “All classes are canceled tonight, effective immediately, due to flooding on campus. In addition, all day and evening classes will be canceled tomorrow, Thursday, September 2 due to cleanup efforts. Foodservice will be available for residential students.”

Crenshaw was relieved when an email was sent later that night titled, ‘Shelter available at Bartlett Hall for those unable to leave campus.’ That email stated, “Faculty, staff, and students currently at Kean who cannot leave the Union campus due to flooding may take shelter in Bartlett Hall for whatever period of time is necessary, including overnight.”

She explained that she was nervous about staying in her car during a flood. 

“I was afraid my car would end up getting flooded like the others,” she explained. “I was also glad because I wouldn’t have to be by myself anymore; I stayed with a friend.”

Carter had to remain on campus, and he spent the night with a friend in Cougar Hall. The walk to Cougar Hall was rather treacherous as he had to wade through giant puddles that had risen up his leg.

Some however weren’t as lucky. Christian Grullon, a senior majoring in Communication was stranded at work in Menlo Park Mall and had to sleep on a chair in the food court.

Grullon explained that the majority of the mall workers had left, and it was so unfortunate that he was doing the closing shift.

“By the time I closed, I couldn’t get out of the mall. I take route one to get back to Carteret where I live and the roads were blocked off,” said Grullon. “They weren’t even letting cars through, so I literally had no way of getting out and I ended up spending the night at the mall.”

His dad had called him to check in on him and advised him to not risk driving home. He informed him that the roads were completely flooded and that it wasn’t safe to drive as he will not be able to see clearly or how deep the water actually is.

Grullon explained that he was very angry that the mall owners did not have storm emergency protocols in place that would allow workers to leave early.

“I was angry. I feel like they really didn’t put our safety first,” said Grullon. “I got multiple notifications of the flash flood warnings and yet the mall still didn’t close early. I left the mall the next day at 8 in the morning.”

Tropical Storm Ida left a sense of fear in students. Grullon says that he now gets nervous when it rains because he is not sure if it will be heavy or not.

Carter explained that he is more aware of the intensity of the rain but in the back of his mind, he is preparing himself for a repeat of the storm.

After heavy rains fell on Thursday Sep. 23, 2021, Crenshaw explained that she was very nervous.

“It was almost as if the storm a few weeks ago gave me PTSD. As soon as it started to rain, I left work as quickly as possible to make sure I made it home before it started to flood,” said Crenshaw. “I heard a few highways had already started to flood and that made me panic. I am now very attentive to the weather conditions; way more than I was before the last storm.”

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