Students Flock to Twitter to Poke Fun at Hurricane Sandy and 69 People Died in the Caribbean

BU—This past Monday, students enjoyed the day off of school by making light of Hurricane Sandy on Twitter, and 69 people in the Caribbean died in the storm.

At 9:58 a.m., Matt Johnson (SMG ’16) tweeted, “Hurricane Survival Kit,” with a picture of him holding the recently released FIFA ’13 enclosed, and the unfortunate hurricane victims the Caribbean awaited actual Hurricane Survival Kits. Within an hour, three people had retweeted Johnson’s tweet while five people had died.

At 12:02 p.m., Kayley Moore (CGS ’15) tweeted, “I really hope CGS floods so we don’t have class tomorrow #Sandy,” and housing foundations in impoverished nations like Haiti and Cuba were devastated by the blistering winds and flooding of the record-breaking natural disaster.

Some students, like Emma Folgers (SAR ‘16), focused on the positive instead of making jokes. Folgers tweeted, “No classes, a cozy bed, and the 24 hours of the Food Network. This is the best day ever,” and the banana crop in Haiti was also flooded, creating risk that the hurricane could have a long-lasting impact on the region.

The most popular and viral tweet was sent out by the Jamaica Disaster Relief twitter account, which read, “Everybody Stay Inside. Disaster Warning in Effect. Please help. #ICanHazHurricane”