To:    Students, Faculty, and Staff

From:    President Lyons

Re:    “Significant Rain Event” During the Next Five Days

Date:    September 1, 2011

This is to advise the campus community to please exercise care and caution in driving and partaking in outdoor activities over the next five days. The New Orleans area will experience a very significant rain event with eight to ten inches of rain and winds possibly up to 25 miles an hour. Mayor Landrieu in a press conference this afternoon made an appeal to all residents to be careful, as the amount of rain will likely cause flooding. The National Weather Service and the Army Corps of Engineers have made similar announcements and caution people to avoid attempting to drive through standing water. According to the Corps of Engineers, the threat is “not from a surge standpoint, but from a rain standpoint.”

The campus will take appropriate precautions, including inspecting catch basins, gutters, and road drains to make certain they are clear of debris. We advise that you may want to take similar precautions at your residence.

The campus will provide email blasts and text alerts during the course of the weekend to advise you of any changes. We ask that if you are not already signed up to receive emergency alerts from the university, please do so as soon as possible at www.dillard.edu/e2campus.html.  In preparation for the long weekend, faculty and staff should refer to the emergency evacuation checklist at the university’s emergency link on the Dillard website.

These challenges not withstanding, please enjoy the Labor Day Weekend and we look forward to seeing you on Tuesday, September 6, 2011.

If anyone is interested in tracking the weather, we advise that you sign up at www.nolaready.info for instant updates.