Emergency Updates

Wednesday, September 12, 2024
5 p.m.

Dillard Community, 

DILLARD UNIVERSITY POST HURRICANE FRANCINE
EARLY MORNING STATEMENT
7:58 a.m.

Hurricane Francine made landfall in Louisiana as a Category 2 storm on Wednesday, September 11, around 5 pm CT near Morgan City in Terrebonne Parish, about 85 miles west-southwest of New Orleans.

Portions of the New Orleans metro area were under a flash flood emergency warning
Wednesday evening. Rainfall totals in parts of the city topped 8 inches. Francine was
downgraded to a tropical storm with 70 mph winds at 10 p.m. After midnight, rains
moved to Washington Parish and Francine was on its way out of Louisiana. Over
380,000 people were without power several hours after landfall. Entergy crews cannot begin repairs until winds dip below 30 mph.

Portions of Dillard University’s campus are without power this morning. The campus had full power through much of the night but lost power early this morning as crews work to restore power through other parts of the city. Campus staff are in communication with Entergy and assessing campus conditions. Students and employees should remain sheltering in place as recovery efforts throughout the city are underway. Debris and flooding continue to compromise roadways. Students and faculty will maintain remote instruction for the remainder of the week. Essential personnel should return to campus on Friday, September 13.  

Residential students at Dillard and SUNO will adhere to a weekend schedule for meals through the remainder of the week. A more detailed update on campus conditions and modified schedules will be issued by Noon today. Continue to check e2Alerts, texts and email for additional updates. If there is an emergency, please contact DUPD at 504-616-9792 who are on campus monitoring the situation. Dining updates are available through DillardDining – text “82257″ for dining updates times and locations.

Tuesday, September 10, 2024
6:15 p.m.

In accordance with the shelter-in-place directives declared by the City of New Orleans, Dillard University will shelter-in-place for Tropical Storm Francine. The storm is forecasted to make landfall in Louisiana on tomorrow, Wednesday, September 11.

DU class schedules and business operations hours have been modified. Announcements were distributed to the campus community, local media and external stakeholders. See Emergency Updates at Dillard.

DU residence halls will remain open and dining services will be available to residential students on a modified schedule. See below.

Auxiliary Services Modified Hours:

Dining Hours: Wednesday – Thursday
Brunch 11:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Students will receive dinner plates and care packages during the Brunch service.
*Kearny Dining Hall will close for dinner service

Dining Hours: Friday – Sunday
Brunch 11:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Dinner 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Kearny is scheduled to resume regular dining service hours on Monday, September 16.

The Auxiliary Services and Student Success teams are coordinating with DU residential students living at SUNO regarding dining services on Wednesday and Thursday. Please monitor your DU emails for SUNO dining services operations from Auxiliary Services.

Retail Operations:
The DU Bookstore, DU Post Office, WOW and WPS Starbucks will be closed Wednesday,
September 11 – Sunday, September 15. All DU retail operations are scheduled to resume
regular operating hours on Monday, September 16.

Monday, September 9, 2024
7 p.m.

Today, the City of New Orleans declared a Tropical Storm Watch for our area. The Dillard
University Emergency Management team will continue to monitor the developments of Tropical
Storm Francine which is expected to bring heavy rain, storm force winds, and flooding. At this
time, it is predicted that storm conditions will impact New Orleans and our surrounding area
beginning Tuesday afternoon and continue through Thursday. 

Local officials have declared this a shelter-in-place event and no evacuations have been ordered. Based upon this information, Dillard University will follow the schedule below:

Staff

• Tuesday, September 10 – Dillard University will be open for regular business hours.
• Wednesday, September 11 and Thursday, September 12– Dillard University will be closed.
  Essential Personnel please work with your supervisors regarding critical duties.

Faculty/Students

• Classes will be canceled from Noon on Tuesday, September 10, and all day
  Wednesday, September 11.
• Classes will resume on Thursday and Friday, September 12-13, 2024, and will be
  conducted asynchronously through Canvas.
• Face-to-face instruction is scheduled to resume on Monday, September 16 but please
  check Canvas and DU sites for regular updates.

While there have been no evacuations ordered for the Greater New Orleans area, we do
anticipate heavy rains, flooding, and wind gusts that are likely to disrupt power. If students choose to leave campus prior to the storm, they are strongly encouraged to leave no later than Noon on Tuesday, September 10. Later departures risk encountering heavy traffic and increasingly adverse weather conditions. Students have received a separate email regarding campus departures and registering their respective emergency plans.

The University will continue to monitor the storm and share updates through the e2Campus as weather conditions change. Dillard will also continue to follow the guidance of city and state officials.  As with any severe weather event, please remember the following guidance:

•  Gather necessary supplies (prescription medications, devices, books, games,
  snacks, etc.)
• Charge all electronic devices
• Preserve cell phone battery life by using devices only as needed
• Prepare for power and water outages
• As weather conditions worsen, stay away from windows
• Remain inside during the weather event to avoid falling tree branches and
  other debris
• After the weather event, be mindful of fallen power lines

Resources:

• NOLA READY
• National Weather Service