Resuming Normal Operations

Hurricane Laura is now forecast to hit near the Texas and Louisiana border. We pray hard for those communities, and for all of you whose families live there. Campus is open as of today, with classes still virtual. We plan to be fully open and teach on campus beginning tomorrow, Wednesday, and going forward. (With the exception of the College of Law - students, faculty and staff there should look for direction from the dean's office.) We may well have weather from the outskirts of the storm on Thursday, but right now conditions should not require the closure of campus.

Update on Campus Operations

As Hurricane Marco moves through and Hurricane Laura approaches, we are writing with an update on operations for Tuesday, August 25, for you to continue to stay safe and engaged.  Operations will continue to be evaluated for Thursday and a separate communication will be sent to address those days.  Please continue to monitor the university website and local weather outlets. 

An Update on the Rest of This Week

For those of you new to the experience of hurricanes, it is often true that anxious preparation is followed by nothing more than a windy day. But what used to feel anticlimactic to me as a kid now registers as utter relief. Remember that we never regret making those necessary preparations. We never let our guard down, particularly this year when the world keeps throwing things at us. Tomorrow, Tuesday, campus operations will reopen.

An Update on Marco and Laura

We receive detailed meteorological information specific to our campus, which gives us comfort about this week. Marco is expected to make landfall south of New Orleans tomorrow afternoon, as a Category 1 hurricane that will quickly deteriorate to a tropical storm. We expect to see occasional gusts of strong wind and some rain starting tonight through Monday. Accordingly, unless we have power outages that get in the way, we will teach courses virtually on Monday and stay inside.

Tropical Weather Update

The latest forecast from the National Weather Service has shifted the track of Tropical Storm Marco further east. It is now predicted to make landfall in southeast Louisiana by noon on Monday as a strong, but small tropical storm. This puts it ahead of any potential impacts from Tropical Storm Laura, which is now forecast to hit Wednesday. We are in for a long week and the time to prepare is right now.