'Heartbreaking': 2 people with Island connection preparing for Hurricane Irma

As Hurricane Irma passes by Cuba and the Bahamas heading for Florida, two people with an Island connection are keeping a careful eye on the storm.

Christal Stanford is studying at Holland College and keeping in contact nearly minute to minute with her family back home in Freeport, Grand Bahama.

"I'm in constant contact with them every day, every hour, every minute," says Stanford. 

'Heartbreak'

She experienced Hurricane's Katrina and Jeanne firsthand and saw the destruction brought down on her hometown.

"It was really hard to go through that and to see people who lost their lives and homes and jobs. Our community is still rebuilding itself from that hurricane so expecting Irma is just terrifying."

Thinking about Hurricane Irma as it slowly approaches the Bahamas, Stanford can only drum up one word: "Heartbreak."

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"You're scared, you're worried. In some islands, you can't contact family members so you're playing that scary waiting game. That's the scariest thing, not knowing what if."

Holland College has set up a Hurricane Irma information page for the near 200 Bahamian students attending the school to get more information and contact their families directly should communications break down.

Hunkering down in Sarasota

Michelle Blankenship, an ex-pat Island nurse working in Sarasota, Florida, said it may be beautiful in the sunshine state right now but some members of the public are panicking as the hurricane approaches.

"The crowds are crazy at the stores, there's no water to buy there's no fuel they're having tankards coming in and they're being escorted by police to come in," she said.

"That part of it is a little unsettling."

Several parts of Florida face mandatory evacuation, she said, except in Sarasota where Blankenship, as a nurse, will remain at her hospital under lock down starting tomorrow night.

"At this point in time, for our family, we're prepared as much as we can be. I see the mass hysteria out there and I'm trying not to do that because that's just not going to help."

"We're hunkering down and we're staying safe. We've prepared and we're going to do it."

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