Hurricane Irene
The following are Hurricane Irene updates from the William & Mary Emergency Management Team. Note: Power has been restored to both Brown Hall and the Ludwell apartment complex. As of Monday night, all residence halls have power.
3:00 p.m. August 29
Dear William & Mary community,
The Emergency Management Team continues to work closely with the President and the Provost to assess the status of campus and prepare the College to resume business following Hurricane Irene.
The Williamsburg campus and surrounding area continues to recover from the effects of the storm. All major roadways are now passable in the Williamsburg area. Sidewalks and streets on campus have been cleared of all major debris. For information regarding the City of Williamsburg’s Hurricane restoration efforts, please check the City’s website.
As of Monday afternoon, power has been restored throughout campus. Only two residence halls – Brown Hall and the Ludwell apartment complex – remain without electrical power. Dominion Virginia Power reports that they expect power will be restored to Brown Hall today. We continue to work with Dominion Power to restore power to Ludwell as quickly as possible.
Here are some immediate information items:
- All College offices will be open on Tuesday. Faculty and staff should report to work at their normal time on Tuesday.
- Classes will resume on Wednesday.
- Residence halls will reopen to students on Tuesday at noon. If power is not restored to Brown or Ludwell residence halls, the College is working to secure alternative temporary housing. If power is not restored by noon Tuesday, those residents should contact Residence Life at 757-221-4314 for information about temporary lodging.
- The Commons dining hall (Caf) as well as the Marketplace will reopen at 11 a.m. on Tuesday and the dining hall in the Sadler Center will reopen at 4 p.m. on Tuesday. Dining services will resume a normal schedule on Wednesday. The Sadler Center will be open for normal hours on Tuesday for students waiting to move back into their residence halls. The Student Recreation Center will be open for activities from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
- If you have a question about a specific event or activity on Tuesday, please contact the individual department or organizer to check on the status.
- The add/drop deadline originally set for Friday, Sept. 2, will be extended until Wednesday, Sept. 7.
- There have been no decisions yet regarding changes to the academic calendar to make up the cancelled classes. The Provost will work with the deans to determine how best to proceed and will be announce that information later this week.
- Opening Convocation and the all-college faculty meeting and reception will be rescheduled. An announcement about new time and dates will come later this week.
The EMT will continue to provide updates as necessary.
Sam Jones
Vice President for Finance
Vice Chair of the Emergency Management Team
1:08 p.m. August 28
Dear William & Mary community,
The Emergency Management Team continues to assess the damage caused by Hurricane Irene and I write to update you on the impact of the storm that swept through campus Saturday night.
Here are some immediate information items:
- Classes are cancelled through at least Tuesday. We are asking students not to return to campus on Monday -- residence halls will not open until Tuesday at the earliest. As of Sunday afternoon, 80 percent of the City of Williamsburg, including large portions of campus, was still without electrical power. This includes several residence halls housing approximately 800 students. Dominion Virginia Power is currently assessing power outages in the region. At this point, they can not provide a definite time when power will be restored to the College.
- College offices will remain closed Monday. Only essential personnel should report. All employees should plan on reporting to work Tuesday at their regular work time.
- The childcare center will remain closed until power is restored.
The College is doing everything it can to get the campus up and running as quickly as possible. Key to this is the ability of Dominion Virginia Power to restore power to the campus.
The EMT will continue to assess the impact of the storm and will provide additional updates as information is available. Faculty, staff and students should continue to check the College’s website, email and the local media for updates as well as the W&M News Twitter page at www.twitter.com/WMNews and Facebook page at www.facebook.com/wmnews.
Sam Jones
12:30 p.m. August 26
Dear William & Mary community,
Due to traffic associated with Hurricane Irene evacuations, Governor McDonnell is closing state offices at 3 p.m. today in specific locations that could be impacted by this storm. This includes the Williamsburg area. As a result, the College will close at 3 p.m. Essential personnel should remain on campus as directed by their supervisor.
Please remember that while classes are cancelled for Monday, College offices are scheduled to reopen on Monday at noon. Over the weekend, all students, faculty and staff should continue to monitor the College’s website, campus email and local media for updates. We will also provide storm updates as warranted via the College’s mass notification system and through the W&M News Facebook and Twitter pages at www.facebook.com/wmnews and www.twitter.com/WMNews.
Please stay safe.
Sam Jones
3:40 p.m. August 25
Dear William & Mary community,
I am writing to update you on the status of Hurricane Irene. The track of the storm shifted west and intensified overnight and now there is a high likelihood that the Williamsburg region will see significant rain, wind and, more important, loss of electric power starting Saturday and continuing over the weekend.
Therefore, the Emergency Management Team, in consultation with the President and Provost, has made the decision to reschedule Opening Convocation and cancel all campus events Friday through Monday. In addition, we will close residence halls as of 12-noon Friday and we are asking that all students implement their personal evacuation plans.
Student Evacuation Plans
As the storm gets closer, westbound traffic will intensify throughout the region so if your personal plan for evacuation involves leaving Williamsburg we are urging students to leave now if you can. Please contact your families and let them know where you will be staying while the residence halls are closed. As members of a close community, please reach out to each other and assist any classmate who may need help evacuating. Students who are having difficulty implementing their personal evacuation plans, should contact the Office of Residence Life (221-4314) or the Office of Student Affairs (221-1236). If you are an international student needing assistance contact the Reves Center (221-3594). Our staff are here to help. Once the residence halls are closed, the Sadler Center will remain open until 5 p.m. on Friday for students waiting to depart.
Openings and Closings
All classes will be canceled Friday through Monday. At this point we anticipate reopening the residence halls at 5 p.m. on Monday for Tuesday classes but this will depend on the impact of the storm.
Although classes are canceled on Friday the College will remain open until 5 p.m. and staff should report to work tomorrow as usual. Supervisors should work with employees to grant liberal leave as necessary based on personal circumstances. All essential personnel should report this weekend. Staff should report at noon on Monday unless notified otherwise over the weekend.
Dining services in the Sadler Center will remain open Friday until 10 a.m. The Commons Dining Hall (Caf) will remain open until 3 p.m. on Friday. Depending on the storm, we’re planning for the Commons to reopen at 11 a.m. on Monday and the Sadler Center will reopen at 4 p.m. on Monday.
The Provost will be following up with a message with additional instructions for faculty.
Postponing Opening Convocation and cancelling classes is difficult decision but one we feel is necessary to protect the health and safety of our community. Based current information from the National Weather Service, we fully anticipate extended power outages that can affect the campus. Any extended loss of power in campus facilities represents a security and safety issue. For students living on campus, in particular, we rely on electricity for door security, fire suppression and food service.
Over the weekend, all students, faculty and staff should continue to monitor the College’s website, campus email and local media for updates. We will also provide storm updates as warranted via the College’s mass notification system and through the W&M News Facebook and Twitter pages at www.facebook.com/wmnews and www.twitter.com/WMNews.
Sam Jones
Vice President for Finance and Vice Chair of the William & Mary Emergency Management Team
11 a.m. August 24
This is the first report intended to keep you up-to-date on the progress of Hurricane Irene and the potential impact on our campus. The current forecast has the storm tracking further east than predicted yesterday avoiding a direct hit on our area. At this point it is anticipated that rain and wind will begin to pick up early Saturday.
We recommend that faculty/staff with offices on the third floors and basements take precautions (computers and other electrical equipment turned off; plastic sheet or trash bags over computers; electronic equipment not left on floors in basements). Everyone should be aware that there is the possibility of campus wide power outages and should exercise due diligence in protecting research or other important data.
The above information is truly precautionary at this point. The path and strength of the storm will continue to change over the next several days. The College’s Emergency Management Team will continue to monitor the storm’s progress and prepare the campus. Updates will be provided to you as warranted.
Stay safe.