Dear Loyola Community, I’m happy to tell you that the campus, and the students who stayed on campus, are fine. We will be back to normal operations on Monday. While New Orleans was spared much impact from this storm, our prayers are with all of you who live in the affected areas around us. I want to thank the members of our community who work tirelessly to respond whenever a crisis threatens: our campus police officers, facilities workers, residence life and student affairs professionals, communications staff and the Sodexo workers who prepare food for our students.

The university has completed preparations for the rain associated with Tropical Storm Barry that is possible in the next few days. We have cleaned storm drains, sandbagged certain low-lying areas and prepared our generators. We also have ample supplies of food and water for anyone who must remain on campus. The university’s leadership team continues to meet twice a day for updates from our weather service. As soon as the storm passes, we will let you know the status of the campus.

Dear Loyola community, Current forecasts predict a tropical storm, or possibly a category 1 hurricane, hitting Louisiana somewhere west of New Orleans on Saturday morning. Here in the city, we face the probability of heavy rains for several days, all on the heels of a prolific thunderstorm today. (For those of you out of town, this morning’s storm dumped about eight inches of rain.

Loyola faculty and staff, I hope that you, your homes and cars are safe, though I know this storm will have affected many of you. We received more than four inches of rain in an hour. Those of you who would not make it to campus this morning, go ahead and stay home unless your supervisor asks you to come in for essential duties. For nonessential personnel already here, go ahead home once the streets are clear and it's safe. Meanwhile, we are closely monitoring the storm system forecast to hit west of us this weekend.

If employees are facing flooding in their areas, please do not attempt to get to work. Alert your supervisor and stay safe and dry.

Dear Loyola Community, Current forecasts show a weather system potentially hitting Louisiana near Texas later this week, creating a risk of several inches of rainfall in the city. We are monitoring the situation closely, with the assistance of a weather service that provides personalized forecasts for our campus. If the weather does require us to cancel any classes or events, we will let you know with as much notice as possible. In the meantime, this is a reminder to be ever vigilant.

We are monitoring the situation and anticipate heavy rain arriving in the area at the end of the week. We will post updates as necessary.