ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Hurricane Fiona is bringing back haunting memories in Puerto Rico of Hurricane Maria that ravaged the island five years ago.
University of Cental Florida alumnae Katina Rentas remembers Hurricane Maria like it was yesterday. She lived in Puerto Rico when the storm hit five years ago.
She said seeing the devastation from Hurricane Fiona is heartbreaking.
“We haven’t really recovered from that. There were still people that had the blue tarps and the roofs. And now it’s back to square one,” Rentas said. “No roads, no electricity, no water. It just feels like it’s like a loop happening again.”
“So that those students could be able to finish their degree here at UCF because if they would have been back to out of state tuition, that wouldn’t have been possible,” she said.
UCF officials said there have been 345 Puerto Rican students who received in-state tuition rates since spring 2018.
Photos: Hurricane Fiona slams Puerto Rico A man walks down a flooded street in the Juana Matos neighborhood of Catano, Puerto Rico, on September 19, 2022, after the passage of Hurricane Fiona. (AFP via Getty Images)
Photos: Hurricane Fiona slams Puerto Rico A flooded street is seen in the Juana Matos neighborhood of Catano, Puerto Rico, on September 19, 2022, after the passage of Hurricane Fiona. (AFP via Getty Images)
Photos: Hurricane Fiona slams Puerto Rico An unidentified man walks away from the overflooded Turabo River on September 19, 2022, in Caguas, Puerto Rico. (Jose Jimenez/Getty Images)
Photos: Hurricane Fiona slams Puerto Rico A man and two children walk in a flooded street after the passage of Hurricane Fiona in Salinas, Puerto Rico, on September 19, 2022. (JOSE RODRIGUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)
Photos: Hurricane Fiona slams Puerto Rico A parking area is seen flooded outside the Roberto Clemente Stadium after the passage of hurricane Fiona in Salinas, Puerto Rico, on September 19, 2022. (JOSE RODRIGUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)
Photos: Hurricane Fiona slams Puerto Rico People await inside a shelter after the passage of hurricane Fiona in Salinas, Puerto Rico, on September 19, 2022. (JOSE RODRIGUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)
Photos: Hurricane Fiona slams Puerto Rico Downed power lines on road PR-743 in Cayey, Puerto Rico, as the island awoke to a general power outage on September 19, 2022, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. (Jose Jimenez/Getty Images)
Photos: Hurricane Fiona slams Puerto Rico Residents take refuge at the Carlos Colón Burgos Public High School after Hurricane Fiona hit the island on September 19, 2022, in Salinas, Puerto Rico. (Jose Jimenez/Getty Images)
Photos: Hurricane Fiona slams Puerto Rico Members of the Nevares family remove the mud from their home after the La Plata River flooded, and their two-story house was almost completely submerged on September 19, 2022, in Cayey, Puerto Rico. (Jose Jimenez/Getty Images)
Photos: Hurricane Fiona slams Puerto Rico Members of the Nevares family remove the mud from their home after the La Plata River flooded, and their two-story house was almost completely submerged on September 19, 2022, in Cayey, Puerto Rico. (Jose Jimenez/Getty Images)
WATCH: ‘Hurricane Maria: Power & Perseverance’ Five years have passed since Hurricane Maria ravaged the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico, but the storm’s lasting effects are still felt to this day. (WFTV)
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Sarah Wilson joined WFTV Channel 9 in 2018 as a digital producer after working as an award-winning newspaper reporter for nearly a decade in various communities across Central Florida.