How ’Canes weathered Irma
Rock Stadium. “My house isn’t going to be there when I get back.
“We left student-athletes who chose to be with their families behind. We left coaches who chose to stay behind. We left professors, friends that we cared about. That bus pulled away, and I was crying. I just had to gather myself and pray, honestly, that people would be OK. I had to come to terms with the fact my house could be gone. I was OK with that. It was the people I was worried about. I just wanted to make sure people were going to be safe.”
Irma made landfall in the Florida Keys three days later. It was another two days before Strawley, James and the rest of the evacuated Hurricanes learned all of Miami’s athletes, coaches, and staff made it safely through the storm.
Locating them all wasn’t easy, amid spotty cell phone service and power outages. Some of the football players traveled out of state, one going as far as California.
Linebacker Zach McCloud was the last Hurricanes football player to be accounted for, his safety not confirmed until Karri Valot — the mother of running back Travis Homer — drove to the McCloud’s home to check on the family and discovered they were all well — just without cell service.
In Orlando, UM staff celebrated when they got Valot’s phone call.
Now, with all athletes, coaches, and staffers accounted for, the Hurricanes began moving forward.
The soccer team headed to Charlottesville, where it faced Virginia on Thursday. The swim team went to Gainesville, where it will compete in the three-day All-Florida Invitational starting today.
Rival programs across the ACC provided assistance for other sports teams.
The football team, unable to return to campus because cleanup in Coral Gables was ongoing, decided to settle in Orlando, where it would begin preparations for Toledo.
With help from Florida Citrus Sports, the Hurricanes secured a hotel that could house the entire team. Then Miami got field space and practice time at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports in Lake Buena Vista, where the team held four practices before returning to South Florida.
Once all of that was set, the next step was getting the remaining Hurricanes — and all their stuff — to Orlando. With power still spotty in South Florida, that too, became a challenge.
Equipment manager David Case and a handful of staffers headed into the still dark, oppressively hot football facility to load Miami’s equipment truck with all the gear the Hurricanes needed.
After a challenging experience, the Hurricanes are looking forward to playing a home game against Toledo on Saturday.
“I think there’s going to be energy from everyone,” James said.
“The guys are going to be excited to be back. The fans, there’s going to be energy there because they’ll be able to see a football game.”