Norah McElroy is one of the USF St. Pete campus residents who had to evacuate the residence halls on Wednesday because of Hurricane Helene.

“When I got the email saying I would have to leave my dorm, I didn’t know what to do,” said McElroy, a freshman environmental science and policy major. “My parents live three hours away in Melbourne, and I didn’t think I would have to leave campus for this hurricane.”

USF St. Pete residents received an email at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday notifying them that dorms would close on Wednesday. 

Those without a place to go had until 9 p.m. to “reserve a space” to relocate to the Tampa campus the following day, according to the email.

Related: USF closes all campuses due to Tropical Storm Helene

With nowhere to run, McElroy said she immediately replied to the email to secure a spot on the Tampa campus.

McElroy received the confirmation and departed from USF St. Pete at 10 a.m. on Wednesday for a five-day stay at the Juniper-Poplar Hall on the Tampa campus.

Ana Hernandez, the associate vice president for USF Housing and Residential Education, said 18 students from St. Pete relocated to Tampa on two buses, along with four St. Pete Housing staff members to accompany them.

McElroy said seeing that Housing staff would join students was comforting, but she still felt a little insecure on the way to Tampa.

“Students who had relocated to the Tampa campus before seemed calm, but freshmen, like me, were worried because we didn’t know what would happen after we got there,” McElroy said.

Around 20 St. Pete students evacuated to the Tampa campus last year during Hurricane Idalia, Hernandez said.

Hernandez said once students arrived on the Tampa campus on Wednesday, the staff settled them into their space and explained where to find bathrooms and the dining hall.

USF Housing reserved two multi-purpose rooms on the first floor of the Juniper-Poplar building to accommodate the students, Hernandez said. 

One of the rooms was used for sleeping, while the other was allocated as a social space to hang out or do homework, Hernandez said.

Students were told to bring bedding and pillows, but USF Housing got air mattresses and extra sheets for all of them, McElroy said.

McElroy said, because the Tampa campus is bigger than St. Pete’s, the experience was a little “overwhelming” for her. 

However, she said Tampa residents were friendly and knew how to keep their guests busy during the stay.

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

Brooke Bazarek, a freshman environmental policy major, said she is originally from Chicago and would have spent over $4,000 on flights to go home.

Instead, Bazarek said she chose to make the most of her time in “confinement” at Juniper-Poplar Hall.

“People were really excited about the hurricane, which was probably the wrong reaction,” Bazarek said. “At one point, we played volleyball in the dorms, which was definitely against all the rules.”

Bazarek said many residents stayed up until 6:30 a.m. on Friday because they went to the top floor of the Richard A. Beard Garage to watch the sunrise.

“I think it was just us being stupid and loud,” Bazarek said. “It was funny because all of us were just, well, stuck here.”

A good change this year was that Juniper Dining was open for longer than she expected, Bazarek said.

Juniper Dining was only closed on Thursday, so USF dining distributed lunch bags and to-go food on Wednesday evening, Hernandez said.

Bazarek said students could “shop around” and choose the food they liked better, which included meat sandwiches, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and fruit.

Hernandez said arrangements were made with USF’s dining partners so St. Pete students could eat in Juniper Dining while it was open.

St. Pete student residents who relocated to the Tampa campus were taken back to their respective dorms at 10 a.m. on Sunday.

Related: USF St. Pete campus will reopen Sunday following Hurricane Helene

McElroy said her only complaint is that if she had a few more days to decide on an evacuation plan, she might have gone home. 

She also said she was initially told by the Housing staff members who accompanied the students that they would return to the St. Pete campus on Friday. 

However, USF “kept postponing” the original return date because of the damage assessment at the St. Pete campus, she said.

Despite the few issues she encountered, McElroy said the experience was nice and that she now has friends at the USF Tampa campus.

“If another hurricane were to happen, I think I would go through this experience again,” McElroy said. “Even though I would have enjoyed going home, Tampa residents were very nice to me.”