Six months after Hurricane Debby forced USF St. Pete to close some academic buildings, Judithanne Scourfield McLauchlan still doesn’t have access to her on-campus office.

McLauchlan, a political science professor, said she missed a conference presentation because her books and work materials were in her office at the Piano Man Building, which she can’t access.

But that’s not the only way last year’s hurricane season is still affecting McLauchlan.

Her house flooded with four feet of water during Hurricane Helene. As she waited for repairs to start at her house, the professor and her husband Ramsey couch-surfed and stayed at 11 different places.

“The immediate aftermath was really catastrophic,” she said.

Related: USF professor’s home was damaged after Helene. ‘Super volunteers’ stepped up.

This past Friday, the pair finally settled into a stable home. McLauchlan and her husband were placed in an apartment in Largo with the support of FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program.

But not being able to go back to the office is affecting her classes. Supplemental books and readings she needs for her Constitutional Law class are at the office.

“I evacuated with what I needed for the immediate fall semester, but now it has been more than six months since my office building officially closed,” she said. 

McLauchlan said faculty were supposed to move back into the Piano Man Building last Friday — but that didn’t happen.

USF St. Pete’s facilities team has been restoring the building by removing impacted drywall, carpet and ceiling tiles for it to dry out, said Matthew Cimitile, a USF St. Pete spokesperson.

However, a “limited number” of contractors are available to make renovations because of the high demand for similar projects, Cimitile said.

This affected the reopening date, which is still to be determined, he said.

Related: USF St. Pete sees flooding, power outages after Hurricane Helene 

In addition to McLauchlan’s office being closed, her housing situation also hasn’t been easy.

After keeping her clothes in a suitcase for five months, McLauchlan was just happy to be able to put her clothes in drawers in the new apartment.

“I cried when they showed us the apartment,” McLauchlan said. “They’re like, ‘Do you want to look around?’ I’m like, ‘No, I don’t look around. I’m just happy to have a place to live.’” 

She also realized she could now cook her meals — something she hadn’t done in five months.

“We have a refrigerator, a stove and a sink where we should wash dishes,” McLauchlan said. 

One of the places they temporarily stayed at didn’t have electricity and had a boil water notice.

“But I was grateful I wasn’t in my car, right?” McLauchlan said.

She might not have slept in her car, but she worked from it.

McLauchlan hosted virtual office hours in her car or temporary offices at Lowell E Davis Memorial Hall and the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library.

USF financially helped McLauchlan through a $750 grant she received from the USF Foundation.

“The gift was very much appreciated and also a meaningful reminder that the community cares about us and our hardships,” McLauchlan said.

Related: A guide to USF’s post-hurricane resources 

But McLauchlan doesn’t plan on staying in the apartment for long.

“I’m hoping that this really was a once-in-100-year storm, and we can rebuild and move back into the beach,” she said. “How I long to go home.”

Like other Pinellas County residents’ homes that were affected during the hurricanes, McLauchlan had to undergo a “substantial damage” assessment.

If the price to restore the house is 49% or more than it’s worth, it receives the “substantially damaged” qualification and can’t be restored without a permit.

In January, McLauchlan was notified that her house was not considered substantially damaged, meaning she is allowed to repair the house. 

FEMA assigned McLauchlan and her family a case worker, whom they will meet monthly to ensure they’re making “adequate progress” on the house, she said.

Related: USF students feel burnout after hurricanes: ‘We’re all playing catch up’ 

McLauchlan said her daughter Peggy, who is attending Ripon College in Wisconsin, visited the house for the first time after the damages during winter break.

“As I stood in what used to be our living room, I was just so upset and frustrated, and I just wanted to scream,” McLauchlan said. “Just at that moment, my daughter came through the door.”

Peggy, who had just turned 19, was climbing through the open walls, laughing and bringing humor to the situation. 

“I was happy to have her sense of humor,” McLauchlan said. “But sometimes it’s just really hard, and it can be very stressful not having any of my things. Some of that’s because they’re gone forever.”