Administrators in Facilities, Athletics and on the Crisis Communication Team will meet today to make plans for how the University will deal with Hanna, a tropical storm with hurricane potential that may hit North Carolina at the end of this week.
Hanna is likely to impact the eastern part of the state toward the end of the week, but according to State Climatologist Ryan Boyles, a forecast can change dramatically in a matter of hours.
“There is a lot of uncertainty in the intensity of the storms,” he said.
The University may have to postpone Saturday’s football game, depending on the severity of Hanna.
“What we would do, if a big storm was approaching, we would talk to the county, the National Weather Service [and] student dining and we would put into place our pre-existing emergency plans,” David Rainer, vice chancellor for environmental health and public safety, said.
Before definitive plans are made, Rainer said Facilities is making sure storm drains are clear and emergency generators are full of fuel.
“One of the reasons we’re so fortunate is that our buildings are so robust,” he said. “Most of our residence halls are masonry construction. In case of a hurricane, one of the safest places to be would be in a University building.”
Ike and Josephine are two other storms that could also lead to heavy rain and wind in North Carolina, according to Boyles, but forecasters will have little to predict until about three days before their predicted landing.
“If we do get a storm that comes near us, we’re likely to have substantial rainfall, not necessarily substantial winds, but substantial rainfall,” he said.
University departments tested continuity plans this summer that would allow services to continue with employees working from home and remote locations, Rainer said.
“There are emergency plans that already exist for various divisions across campus but they would not be deployed as of yet,” Rainer said. “We’ve all been discussing them but as far as action, we’re going to wait to see what the weather’s supposed to do.”
