LYNN — Even though New England was able to escape the devastation of Hurricane Irma, she still managed to hit close to home.
Jake Fay endured the storm in St. Thomas, where he attends the University of the Virgin Islands as a Master of Business Administration graduate student. Fay, who was born and raised in Lynn, said this was his first experience with a hurricane.
“The building the school put us in was structurally very strong,” Fay said. “Once I saw the trees start to go missing and the greenery of the island begin to disappear, I realized the seriousness of the storm.”
Irma didn’t leave any building untouched.
“Every building on campus faces some sort of damages, some more than others,” Fay said. “My original dorm that they evacuated us from was hit so hard that it will be closed for the remainder of the semester and hopefully will be fixed by the spring semester.”
Once Irma moved beyond the island, American students began to make their way back home to their families on Royal Caribbean cruise ships sent to retrieve them.
Fay, along with a few other students, decided not to abandon the island.
“With food and shelter being provided and classes starting back up as early as the beginning of next week I did not see it necessary to go home,” Fay said. “My decision was to stay and help the island with whatever is needed while it gets back on its feet.”
The campus has generators, leaving staff and students in a better place than the residents of St. Thomas. Because of that, Fay was able to communicate with his family.
Brian Fay, Jake’s father and the principal of Callahan Elementary School in Lynn, said he felt confident in the university’s ability to keep his son safe while he stayed to help the island.
“We were nervous at first but he’s a resilient kid,” he said. “My wife and I say this will be a part of his journey in life and it makes for a pretty unique story.”
University President David Hall emailed students the university’s academic plan post-hurricane. He ended his message on a positive note.
“UVI will rise from this devastating catastrophe, and we will serve and lead the people of the Virgin Islands to a better and greater place in the future,” he wrote.
