Hurricane Hermine
Weather: Tropical Storm Hermine
September 2, 2016, 3:07 pm
Dear William & Mary community,
The Emergency Management Team continues to monitor the potential impact of Tropical Storm Hermine, which was downgraded from a hurricane after making landfall in Florida early this morning. Currently moving through Georgia at about 18 mph, the storm is expected to proceed northeast before finally moving out to sea from the North Carolina coast on Saturday.
Due to potential impact to the Virginia coastline, the governor has declared a state of emergency to ensure that resources will be ready and storm response swift. Williamsburg has been placed under a tropical storm warning and a flash flood watch.
The latest update from the National Weather Service indicates that the area will begin experiencing heavy precipitation from the storm later this evening. Rainfall will continue through Saturday with sustained winds expected between 29 and 34 mph and wind gusts reaching up to 47 mph. As the storm is expected to stall off the coast of New Jersey, our area may continue to see precipitation through Sunday with a total of about 3 inches expected from the storm.
Facilities management has been working to prepare the campus by clearing drains, distributing sandbags to areas prone to flooding and securing light or loose items, including those found on construction sites.
We have not canceled any classes or weekend events, but please make personal preparations for the storm and possible power outages, by reviewing these procedures from residence life: https://www.wm.edu/offices/residencelife/documents/hurricane.pdf.
If updates are necessary, we will communicate them through the university's mass notification system. If you are new to the campus and have not yet enrolled in the mass notification system, you may do so through the emergency phone numbers and contact form in Banner at https://personalinfo.wm.edu/emergency.
You can also receive notifications by following W&M News on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/wmnews/ - or Twitter - https://twitter.com/wmnews - or by using the W&M mobile app: http://www.wm.edu/mobileapps/.
The EMT will continue to monitor the progress of the storm and will update the campus community as necessary.
Sam Jones, Chair
William & Mary Emergency Management Team
Sept. 1, 2016, 4:48 p.m.
Dear William & Mary community,
The Emergency Management Team is closely monitoring the status of Hurricane Hermine, which is expected to make its way across Florida and Georgia and up the East Coast over the next few days.
The latest update from the National Weather Service indicates that the center of the storm may pass the southeast corner of Virginia on Saturday. At this time, no warnings or watches have been issued for our area, which is expected to see heavy rain and higher-than-normal winds.
Although the storm is not expected to have a significant impact on Hampton Roads, the university has begun preparing campus in case the forecast changes. We urge you to begin making preparations, too, should power outages affect our area.
We have not canceled any weekend classes or events. Since the path and strength of the storm could change over the next several days, we will inform you immediately if a change is warranted. For reference, here is the university’s policy on inclement weather.
If you have not yet enrolled in the university’s mass notification system, please do so here. In addition to campus email, text, landline and cell phone, you can also receive emergency messages by following the W&M News Facebook and W&M News Twitter pages as well as through the free W&M mobile app.
The EMT will continue to monitor the progress of the storm and will update the campus community as necessary.
Sam Jones, Chair
Emergency Management Team
