As Valerie White, a Florida A&M University professor, returned to Tallahassee Saturday afternoon, she was informed that her home was flooded. White remained optimistic though.
“I was always hopeful that it wouldn’t be as bad as I thought,” said White.
When White pulled up to go into her home she was told that she could not enter. “When I turned to come in the neighborhood the sheriff was standing right there.”
White an active member at Bethel Baptist called her friend, Linda Fortenberry, and asked could she stay with her. “My place is flooded can I come,” said White, PH.d, “and she said sure.”
White said she only has the clothes she had with her and she is expecting to be out of her house for two weeks. “I have four or five outfits and some stuff from the cleaners,” White said.
White assessed the damage to her home but water from the lake directly in front of her home did not recede enough for her to assess all of the damage.
Despite her situation, White said she refuses to sit and wallow in the fact that her home is be flooded.
“It’s fine,” White said. “I don’t have time to be worried.”
FAMU did not escape the full blunt of Tropical Storm Faye either although it sits on the highest of seven hills.
The School of Business and Industry, and the lower portion of the cafeteria were areas on campus that experienced damage from the rain.
Raymond Wilson, coordinator for Instructional support and Technology for School of Business and Industry, said SBI experienced technology issues.
“Flooding caused the network to go down in three of the building, only wireless Internet was working for those three areas,” Wilson said.
SBI Assistant Dean Alex Moore said that the damages to the school were minimal in the west, east and north wings.