Hurricane Florence Update (1 pm 9/14)

Dear parents and families,

The images we are seeing from the coast this morning are very, very sad. Hoping the best for all those impacted and that the recovery efforts will be swift. Please join me in offering your prayers and best wishes for our beloved coastline and the counties who are dealing with the heaviest of Florence’s wrath.

In terms of what is happening on campus, early this afternoon we sent an update to students about Hurricane Florence and what to expect. That message is posted below.

The best information we have at this time is it is likely that Winston-Salem will feel the most significant impact of Florence later tomorrow and throughout the day and night Sunday. This storm is really crawling at a snail’s pace, only moving about 3 miles an hour. To give you a sense of what things looked like this morning, from my house (3 miles from campus), there are gray skies and it is breezy, occasionally gusty, but as of 12 noon there was no real rain yet. If you want to see the view from campus, the Quad Cam is an option.

Even though campus is closed today, our Crisis Management Team is staying active. We will continue to monitor Florence and will work as needed; our goal is to ensure your students are safe and well-informed during the storm.

We are planning for another communication sometime midday on Saturday. Know we are still here, still attentive, and we are thinking about all our impacted Wake Forest families.

Betsy Chapman (‘92, MA ‘94)
Executive Director of Family Communications and Volunteer Management

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Wake Forest University continues to monitor the track of Hurricane Florence and its potential impact to the campus community, which we will begin to experience today.

Hurricane Florence made landfall around 7:15 a.m. near Wilmington, N.C., approximately 225 miles from Winston-Salem. The latest forecast from the National Weather Service indicates 6-10 inches of rain and winds of 15-30 mph with gusts up to 35-40 mph for the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County area over the next several days.

Local emergency managers continue to prepare for rain, winds, potential flooding and possible power outages. Windy conditions have begun and some rain is expected later today. Because the storm is moving slowly, the most significant impacts on our area are now projected to begin on Saturday, with rain and higher winds picking up significantly in the afternoon.

As always, the health, safety and wellbeing of students, faculty and staff are the University’s highest priorities. While we hope that the impact on our area is less than anticipated, we encourage you to remember these tips, wherever you are:

• Turn around! Don’t drown! Do not drive through standing water. Turn around and find another path.
• Avoid touching or approaching any fallen power line. The line and/or surrounding water could be electrically charged.
• Use caution if you are outside. Avoid standing or walking under large trees. High winds can cause limbs and debris to become loose and/or airborne.

Students returning from outside the region will want to take precautions with highways, airports and keep aware of changing conditions, as well as stay in communication with faculty. The North Carolina Department of Transportation provides real-time traffic conditions on its website. North Carolina airports are advising passengers to check regularly with airlines as flight cancellations are expected to increase throughout the weekend.

Wake Forest will continue to provide mid-day updates Saturday and Sunday about Hurricane Florence, or as weather conditions necessitate.

All Hurricane Florence-related updates will be posted on the Wake Alert website (wakealert.wfu.edu). Please continue to monitor the Wake Alert website, follow @WakeAlert on Twitter and Facebook (facebook.com/WakeAlert), and add the Wake Forest Weather/Emergency line (336-758-5935) to phone contacts.

Some are asking how you can help. As you know, Wake Forest’s LJVM Coliseum is officially open as a shelter to house evacuees from coastal areas, with accommodations for pets. The American Red Cross is managing and operating the shelter in coordination with Forsyth County. Those interested in volunteering may register at www.redcross.org/volunteer.

Wake Forest Communications and External Relations