My name is Mandy. I am a college student at FSW, and I never thought I'd see the day I would be on the opposite end of a GoFundMe page. A day spent preparing for a hurricane turned into one of the worst days of my entire life. I lost my home, our vehicles, and nearly everything I owned. Our home was flooded and we were forced to abandon everything in order to survive and not end up trapped inside of the house.

The water kept growing, and growing, and growing. The feeling of helplessness and fear was all we had as all we could do is watch it, knowing it was going to take everything in our lives. We were trapped in 155mph water up to our chests, exposed to the hurricane. We managed to get our dogs to safety, but we were not as lucky at first. I was forced to stay on a neighbors flooded jeep after being in the water for over an hour in order to keep myself steady from the harsh current and constant debris being slammed into me. Luckily, my husband and I were rescued by two neighbors, one of which who turned out to be a professor at my college.

My parents were stuck in the open on the top floor of the condos, hiding behind two chairs to keep themselves from getting hit by flying pieces of the buildings, trees, and much more. While we lost nearly everything, we were blessed to have not lost our lives.

Now, we are trying to piece together any bits of our lives that we possibly can. We are trying to raise some money to get a hotel room, food, water, anything we can to help survive. It's hard to imagine what it would be like to watch your home being taken from you until it happens. Anything that could be sent our way would be unbelievably appreciated. We are devastated by this tragedy, and we are reaching out to our beloved community to please help us, even if it is a prayer or support.