Yasdet Maldonado started her first month at Harvard like most other first years--finding furniture, buying books and getting to know Domna, the famed Annenberg Hall checker.

But the past week has been a little different.

As Hurricane Georges rampaged through the Caribbean, Maldonado spent last week worrying about her family back home in Trujilllo Alto, Puerto Rico.

"At first I was scared--the news kind of exaggerated the situation," Maldonado said. "I hadn't heard from anyone and I didn't know if they were safe."

Although Puerto Rico wasn't hit as badly as the Dominican Republic, where the storm last week killed 125 people, the region around Maldonado's home was decimated.

"For about a week, they had no electricity, no water," she said. "The houses are fine, but the landscape is gone, it just disappeared."

Many Harvard students from areas ravaged by Georges share Maldonado's concerns.

"[It's] kind of scary, most hurricanes turn away north," said Harold E. Luber '99 of Coral Springs, Fla. "I wanted to call home right away."

After wreaking havoc in the Caribbean, Hurricane Georges swept through the Florida Keys, across the Gulf of Mexico and yesterday hit land again on the Gulf Coast.

The storm has already left 320 people dead and more than 100,000 people without homes. Although the hurricane weakened before it hit Florida over the weekend, a state of emergency was declared there.

"My family put up hurricane shutters and moved stuff upstairs in case of flooding," said Ron N. Griffith '99 of Miami, Fla.

"My parents prepared to go to someone else's house--they bought

extra food," Luber added.

Others boarded up their homes in preparation.

For some, the uncertainty was the worst factor. Not being at home, students had to rely on second-hand information.

Eric A. Krieger '02, of Hollywood, Fla.., was worried because he didn't know how strong the hurricane was in Florida.