USF, Crisis Center step up hurricane prep as anxiety lingers from last season

*A student walks by USF’s Holly Apartments two days after Hurricane Milton hit Tampa. ORACLE PHOTO/LILY FOX*

With the arrival of hurricane season in Tampa, USF students – particularly those new to South Florida – may be experiencing increased stress or anxiety after the 2024 season.

Running from June 1 to Nov. 30, hurricane season marks the period when tropical storms form and intensify in the Atlantic Ocean, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

USF and the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay have been strengthening hurricane preparedness for this year’s season after heightened anxiety in the community following last year’s storms.

Clara Reynolds, President and CEO of the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay, said one of the center’s responsibilities is to assist those who may be experiencing anxiety and stress during hurricane season.

Reynolds said the center saw an increase in the number of calls and cases related to stress following Hurricanes Helene and Milton last year.

“Nobody expected Helene to do what it did, and then to be hit again less than two weeks later by Milton — it really amped up the anxiety,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds said the center answered about 3,500 calls related to the hurricanes, 90% of which received some form of mental health support.

Zoey Evans, a sophomore biomedical sciences major, said she is from North Florida and has faced many hurricanes growing up — but last year’s season felt different.

“I probably experienced more anxiety this past hurricane season because of all the unknown factors and the back-to-back storms,” Evans said.

Evans, who lives on campus at The Village, said USF did a “good job” preparing for the back-to-back storms last year.

“They deliver the information with enough time and provide clear instructions on their plan of action,” Evans said.

Grant Gundle, the director of USF’s Emergency Management department, said the university has been preparing for the upcoming hurricane season in light of last year’s storms.

“We followed the plans for both storms, and the difficulty was we really weren’t fully recovered from Helene by the time Milton came,” Gundle said.

The USF Emergency Management team coordinates campus-wide actions to prepare for and respond to disasters and emergencies. The team is also responsible for AlertUSF, which keeps the university community “informed” and “safe” during emergencies.

In the event of storms, USF has contracts with outside vendors such as hurricane remediation services, Gundle said.

This includes the National Weather Service (NWS), which offers a StormReady program that helps communities prepare for storms. USF renewed its StormReady certification for the 2025-26 year, Gundle said.

The USF community also has access to SKYWARN training to learn how to spot storms and WeatherSTEM for updates on weather conditions on campus, Gundle said.

Gundle also said representatives of the Emergency Management team attend the annual Governor’s Hurricane Conference – the nation’s largest conference that focuses on hurricane planning and preparedness.

“We are always in contact with the National Weather Service, National Hurricane Center — we keep those relationships up to date,” he said.

USF also offers mental health resources such as counseling services and crisis hotlines.

Reynolds said students should create emergency plans with roommates or friends in case of unexpected storms.

It is also important to rely on local weather news sources to get the “most accurate and least dramatized” information, she said.

But Reynolds said for many individuals, anticipatory anxiety can be just as intense as the storms.

“There’s a lot of unknowns with a hurricane,” Reynolds said. “We know that, but we also know the things we need to do for evacuations – making sure we have the things that are going to bring us comfort.”