Intense Forecast: Turbulent national weather events impact students’ travel and activities over the past month

Fires in Maui, Hawaii impact students on their family vacations

Wildfires in Hawaii created traveling difficulties for students and their families during their Maui vacations on Aug. 8.

Junior Jackson Birch’s family flew into Kihei, Hawaii at 2 p.m. the day before the Lahaina fires started just a 30-minute drive away. By 9 a.m. the next morning, Birch was loading his suitcase — which he had yet to unpack — back into his family’s rental car for evacuation.

“I woke up to the emergency alert on my phone going off, which is how I first heard about the fires,” Birch said. “We ran to the car, and as we were driving away from the area, we saw the orange glow of the fire which was scary.”

His family spent the night in a high school parking lot as directed by emergency officials via text. Freshman Esther Walker’s family, who was in Kaanapali, Hawaii for vacation at the same time, also slept in a parking lot that night but outside a nearby Target. 

Birch’s family booked an earlier flight home because most of their planned sightseeing and beach activities had been canceled due to fire damage. But Walker’s family stuck with their original plan of staying three more days, even as their hotel ran out of electricity and food.

“There was only one restaurant that was still open, and it was like $60 for a family to get four hot dogs and a three hour wait per meal,” Walker said. “So we ate packets of oatmeal mix in our hotel, and my sister and I actually split a block of dried ramen at one point.”

Emergency highway closures delayed Walker’s trip home before arriving at the airport. According to NASA, wildfires nationally have been increasing in frequency and severity almost consistently every year since the 1980s due to climate change.

“The whole experience made me realize how much of an effect wildfires have on local communities,” Walker said.

Unprecedented high temperatures in the Midwest cause disruption for athletes

Fall sports practices were moved inside or canceled through the end of August with games rescheduled as temperatures soared — triggered by a high-pressure heat dome over the Midwest. According to NASA, a weather balloon released from northeastern Kansas in mid-August recorded the highest known U.S. measurement for pressure over Kansas. 

Football held practices at 5 a.m. to avoid heat. The boys’ soccer team resorted to running through the hallways to condition when the district canceled practices due to heat.

“One day we did laps around the school, sprinting up the lunch room ramp, across the third floor and up and down staircases to the fifth floor,” senior and varsity soccer player Connor Neusel said. 

Soccer team manager and senior Andrew Mun believes that the postponed games have “disappointed fans.” Tennis player and senior Hallie O’Bryan transferred from St. Teresa’s Academy this year and is disappointed about the lack of team connection at the start of her first East season.

“It was hard to get to know the team at first because our practices were canceled the whole week after tryouts,” O’Bryan said. 

According to WeatherBell.com, temperatures are forecasted to remain 5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit above average through the first week of this month, continuing to affect practices.

East alums experience repercussions of an unusual hurricane in California

Hurricane Hilary was the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years on Aug. 20, impacting recent graduates as college begins.

East alum Anohita Paul experienced a seven-hour flight delay on her way to UCLA due to the hurricane. When she arrived, flash flood warnings were being sent out every few hours and there was a 5.1 magnitude earthquake on campus.

“The streets were super empty due to extremely poor visibility, and all restaurants were closed besides fast food,” Paul said.

Rainstorms lasted 14 hours before clearing right before Paul’s college orientation started. At the same time, alum Emma Kate Squires had just arrived on campus on Aug. 19 for University of San Diego’s pre-orientation camping trip when the hurricane hit the next day — forcing her to take shelter in the school gymnasium to avoid power outages.

“It was kind of scary just because I’ve never experienced a hurricane before,” Squires said. “The highways were all flooded, and the winds were so strong.”

She was reminded of pandemic times as local stores shelves became empty of water and food.

“I stocked up like a 19-year-old girl,” Squires said. “I had my sour patch kids, dried apricots from Trader Joe’s, protein bars and peanut butter and tortillas.”