As Hurricane Helene whipped through Clemson at the end of Homecoming Week, Clemson Greek life members were required to finish Homecoming floats on Bowman Field on Wednesday instead of Friday.

Greek life members were aware that rain would be a problem before the float deadlines were shortened, according to Sam Cribbs, float chair for Beta Upsilon Chi (BYX). 

“On Monday, the deadline was moved up to Thursday evening. Then on Tuesday, we were kicked off the field due to lightning, during which (Central Spirit) moved the deadline up to Wednesday at 8 p.m. They allowed us to work all (Tuesday) night to make up for that, but then Wednesday morning around 9 a.m., they moved the deadline further to be off the field by 4 p.m,” Cribbs told The Tiger in an interview, expressing that urgency to finish floats was high.

The weather forced members to move pomping materials and scaffolding to avoid rain damage and accommodate tarps covering the floats. Each time lightning struck, members had to evacuate Bowman Field for an hour.

“During the build, everyone was high energy and really more motivated to finish as the deadline kept getting closer. Since then, though, obviously, seeing the floats get ruined in the rain before the weekend has dampened our mood a bit. We’re all so impressed we finished that early and still got the main vision done, but it hurts to see all the work fall away,” Cribbs told The Tiger.

Cribbs noted that some deadline updates were sent via email, but others were communicated via text by Izzy McGrane, director of Central Spirit. 

“It was always very hectic, but I don’t blame any of that on them. They were clear about new rules and deadlines, it was just hard to keep up with everything going on,” he told The Tiger.

Although Greek life had to accommodate a rain scare last year during float building, Hurricane Helene was a new experience for everyone. Cribbs believes everyone handled the modified rules and deadlines “as well as (they) could’ve.”

Cribbs told The Tiger that homecoming float preparations began in March. Float chairs met about a week before the theme was announced in early May, as well as over the summer, to brainstorm designs and ideas.

According to Cribbs, the budget for their specific float, themed “Howard’s Rock’s Journey from California’s Death Valley to Clemson’s Death Valley,” was just under $10,000 as of Wednesday, with BYX and Kappa Delta contributing about $3,000 each and the other three organizations about $1,400 each.

“The floats were going to happen this week no matter what. It would just be such a big loss of money and time to delay everything and start new next week,” Cribbs told The Tiger.

According to BYX President Matthew Bravo, BYX brothers are encouraged to volunteer 10 hours during homecoming week to help build the float. 

“Due to the shortened time period, it was all hands on deck. The brothers who were able to stay up throughout the night on Tuesday, working through the night, had the most impact on our success in completing the float,” Bravo told The Tiger in a phone interview. “Normally, we’re able to slow down and enjoy our time with the Greek community, but with such shortened time, we truly had to go ‘All In’ on focusing to make sure the float was done on time.”

Cribbs noted that most brothers completed their hours, but those who did not were allowed to recompense by donating cans to the food drive. As of right now, the float winner will be chosen by which organization donates the most food cans to Clemson Paw Pantry.

“That has really frustrated some of us, even though we are buying as much as we can. It’s going to feel weird knowing that the winner will most likely come down to whoever can afford to buy the most,” Cribbs told The Tiger.

University officials closed Clemson’s campus after 7 p.m. on Thursday and canceled all classes on Friday after flash flood and tropical storm warnings were issued.

Clemson saw the worst of the category 4 hurricane last night, with students and residents waking up to downed trees and power lines. Winds peaked at 40 mph at 7:56 Friday morning, according to time and date reports.

The Anderson County Coroner’s Office has announced one death from a tree falling on a house in Anderson, South Carolina, on Friday morning, according to News 19. Additionally, more than three million people across South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia and Florida are experiencing power outages, NBC news reports.