Patrick Finneman, business freshman, left his home in Kenner during Hurricane Katrina’s 2005 landfall. Only one week into college, Finneman didn’t expect classes to be interrupted by Gustav.”It seems like nobody is here,” Finneman said of his Herget Hall residence hall, where he’ll remain throughout the storm. “It’s scary.”On-campus residents are gearing up for Gustav’s landfall, and as of Friday evening, more than 2,000 University students decided to weather Gustav in on-campus housing.
Steve Waller, Residential Life director, said an additional 1,000 family members of students are staying on campus, bringing a total of 3,000 people in ResLife facilities during the storm.ResLife is housing close to 5,000 students this fall, Waller told The Daily Reveille in an Aug. 28 article.Students will not be allowed to the leave the residence halls once conditions are unsafe in Baton Rouge, in accordance with University and ResLife plans. Waller said on-campus housing will be on lock-down “during the peak of the storm.”Finneman said he stocked up on supplies – food, drinks, flashlights and batteries – on Friday. Finneman also said he stopped at half a dozen ATMs trying to find cash, but didn’t have any luck.Waller said he does not expect the residence halls to lose power, but even still, a blackout could happen.”Residence halls have the highest priority for maintaining power,” Waller said. “All of our residence hall have emergency power backups.”Waller said residence halls have backup power to supply lighting and security systems. Additionally, Residence Advisers have flashlights and other supplies and are in close communication with residents.Jennifer Smith, business freshman from Houston, said Gustav will be the first hurricane she experiences in Louisiana. Smith said she attended a floor meeting with her Herget Hall Residents Advisers on Friday, and she plans to read “Alice in Wonderland” to pass some of the time cooped indoors.”I’m sitting around watching shows on my computer,” Smith said. “I’m OK with missing class.”Smith planned to make a trip to Walmart Sunday to buy hurricane supplies until The Daily Reveille advised her of the store’s closure. Smith said she would explore Baton Rouge to find open stores.Ella Desmond, studio art freshman, said she plans to play board games if Herget Hall loses electricity.”I talked with some people in the hall and we said we’d meet in the kitchen to play board games when the storm hits,” Desmond said.Emily Virgadamo, kinesiology freshman, spent part of Sunday afternoon shooting pool in the Herget Hall lobby.”I hope Gustav doesn’t compare [to Katrina],” Virgadamo said.Virgadamo, a Herget Hall resident, said she plans to stay in West Hall with friends to make the confinements of Gustav more enjoyable.”We’re going to stay up all night and party,” Virgadamo said.Virgadamo said her RA has been helpful, and she believes the dorms will be a safe place to stay. Virgadamo said her father was OK with her staying in the dorm, but her mother wanted her to evacuate elsewhere.Greg Mondello, Kenner resident, walked his beagle Maggie around Campus Lake on Sunday afternoon. Mondello arrived in Baton Rouge on Sunday to stay with his son, a University junior, at an off-campus residence until his family is allowed to return home after Gustav.”We had a place to stay here,” Mondello said. “We’re taking it in stride and hoping for the best. I don’t think it’s going to be as bad as Katrina, but that’s because I’m hopeful.”Care Bach, mass communication freshman, said she was upset Gustav interrupted her second week of college classes.”It’s nice to have a break,” Bach said, “But we were trying to get in the swing of things, so it’s kind of weird.”Bach said she plans to have a hurricane sleep-over in her Herget Hall dorm with several friends staying on campus. Bach said she has been following Gustav on television, and said her family evacuated to Florida from Mandiville.”It’s going to be kind of rough,” Bach said.– Contact Nicholas Persac at [email protected].