With the severity of the storm increasing, NC State departments are working to establish safe procedures and living conditions for students who are staying on campus during Hurricane Florence.
Hurricane Florence remains a Category 4 storm and hurricane-force wind speeds have increased to a maximum of 140 mph and extend outward from the center of the storm for up to 60 miles. As the storm strengthens, six counties and several beach areas have issued mandatory evacuations for residents and visitors.
Amy Orders, interim director of Emergency Management and Mission Continuity at NC State, said that the university is doing all that it can to ensure safety for the students who have chosen to remain on campus.
“We work with [the Division of Academic and Student Affairs (DASA)] and Housing directly to make sure students who do stay on campus, because this is their primary home, are covered,” Orders said. “Making sure that the food services, ran through Campus Enterprises, [and] the dining halls can be open. There will be extra food brought to campus to be able to cover those items.”
According to Randy Lait, director of NC State Dining Services, University Dining will be providing their services to those who remain on campus during the storm even though he expects the storm to impact service.
“The short version from me is that Dining will be providing service during the storm,” Lait said in an email. “Though we will certainly will have impacts from the storm. As always during inclement weather, we will post our hours of operation the dining.ncsu.edu web site as we make decisions about operations.”
Peter Fraccaroli, director of NC State Facilities Planning and Management, said the department is keeping watch for flooding on campus, but flooding could be a risk on multiple areas of campus.
According to Susan Grant, director of University Housing, sandbags will be placed on areas that are more prone to flooding on campus to maximize student safety.
“Every part of campus has sandbags to place out just in case,” Grant said. “It all depends on the direction of the winds, the power of the winds and how much rain we get as to exactly what will happen.”
NC State Wolfline will continue to pick up riders at bus stops until 6 p.m. on Wednesday evening and will resume on Monday at 7 a.m., said Yolanda Jones, communications manager for NC State Transportation.
Students can find updates about road closings and other announcements on the Transportation website.
“We have given some suggested areas for students who will stay on campus, who choose to not leave campus and want to park their car in a parking deck. We’ve given some directive on places to move your vehicle,” Jones said.
Tim Hogan, the operations director of university student centers, said that Campus Enterprises is working alongside other partners for a comprehensive plan. Talley Student Union is set to be closed Friday and Saturday, however hours on Thursday and Sunday have not yet been decided.
“We’re still working on the plan. Right now we’re going to plan to be open a little bit later on Wednesday night. We’re working with dining to establish their hours as well,” Hogan said. “We’re likely to be open Wednesday night. We’re going to be closed on Friday and Saturday, and our hours on Thursday and Sunday may alter a little bit depending on the storm.”
Students who are staying on campus will be able to contact campus officials through emails and phone numbers that can be found online. According to Orders, students should be on the lookout for any updates from university communications.
“There are contact resources available to ask questions: 911 for emergencies. DASA has communications that are available for students, things of that nature,” Orders said. “There’s information changes available and numbers available, and then anything that comes out for official communications would come out through the university homepage and university communications.”
Updates about Hurricane Florence can be found on the National Hurricane Center website. Students can find additional information about hurricane preparation resources and guidelines on the Benefits, Employee Wellness and Work Life website.
