Lived experiences of Puerto Rican university students displaced to South Florida after Hurricane Maria

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to document the experiences, services, and programs provided to displaced university students from Puerto Rico and to offer recommendations to educational and community agencies regarding effective integration after a natural disaster. Through in-depth semi-structured interviews, this qualitative phenomenology study consisted of collecting oral histories of six displaced university students from Puerto Rico who relocated to Southwest Florida after Hurricane Maria. The analysis of the data indicated three themes, including (1) trauma after hurricane, (2) challenges and needs during relocation, and (3) conflicting feelings about the homeland and the United States. Although immediate, basic needs were met soon after relocation, in-depth, social-emotional needs, such as dealing with trauma and becoming acculturated in the new culture, remained unanswered. Recommendations are provided to higher education administration, professionals in education, and community agencies.

College Students and Environmental Disasters: A Review of the Literature

“…Meanwhile, following Hurricane Maria, Roque (2022) identified that participants experienced trauma and despair in the immediate months following the disaster. Furthermore, the participants in the study carried out by Szecsi et al (2023) specifically described the mental health toll of being displaced to the United States mainland, experiencing hardship due to resource mismanagement, and being treated as foreigners rather than Americans.…”