Moni Basu, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications (UFCJC) Michael and Linda Connelly Lecturer for Narrative Nonfiction, is the author of “Hurricane Maria Devastated Her Home. Now, This Teen is Helping Put Survival Kits in Florida Libraries” published on youthtoday.org on July 1.

Basu writes about Nadya Rexach-Rivera, who endured the devastation from Hurricane Maria on her native Puerto Rico. She and her family survived and now Rexach-Rivera is part of a team that created sustainable hurricane survival kits that are available from public libraries across the Panhandle.

According to Basu, “The kit’s reusable items include a solar light, a water bottle with a mini filtration system, bandanas that double as area-specific evacuation route maps, waterproof pouches for protecting documents and mobile phones and a multi-use tarp that can be used as a stretcher or flotation device as well as signaling to rescue units. And there is a cloud-shaped hand soother designed to relieve stress during disaster. All of it comes packed in a recycled 600-denier polyester backpack.”

Basu writes that Rexach-Rivera felt compelled to act as a survivor of a major hurricane and interviewed her own family members and surveyed others about their experiences enduring a storm. “As a teenage woman facing a future dampened by dire climate predictions, she hails from a generation that is destined to see climate extremes. Earth’s temperature is rising and carbon dioxide has hit record levels in the atmosphere. The seas are swelling as the ice caps melt and storms are more frequent and furious.”

Basu adds, “At 19, Rexach-Rivera still has a couple of decades to fulfill her ‘to do’ list. But two things are certain: That she will always see herself first as a proud Puerto Rican, and that the storms that blew her to this juncture have forever changed the ways she views the environment.”

Journalism senior Chasity Maynard served as the photographer for the story.

Posted: July 6, 2022
Category: College News, Student News
Tagged as: Chasity Maynard, Moni Basu