Photo courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
By Riley Benson
The University of South Florida announced virtual classes and campus closures this week ahead of Hurricane Milton, which is forecast to become a major hurricane. Classes will be held online today, Oct. 7, and canceled until Thursday, at least. As of 2:13 p.m. on Monday, classes are anticipated to resume virtually on Friday.
All USF campuses – St. Petersburg, Tampa, and Sarasota-Manatee – will be open, but remotely, with the exception of essential personnel on Monday, Oct. 7, with the university being closed entirely from Oct. 8 to 10.
At the time of publication, USF business operations may resume remotely on Friday, Oct. 11, but a final decision is yet to be made.
On-campus residents at the St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee campuses were required to evacuate the residence halls by noon on Monday, Oct. 7. Students who did not have a place to evacuate to were transported to the Tampa campus.
In an email from University Communications at 2:13 p.m. today, Tampa residence halls will be closed starting 8 a.m. Tuesday morning. Students who need a safe place to stay, including those who came from the St. Petersburg and Sarasota campuses, will be transported to Jennings Middle School, an approved Hillsborough County hurricane shelter.
Residential students will receive detailed information in separate emails.
Canceled classes and campus closures come just two weeks after the university closed and on-campus residents were forced to evacuate from Hurricane Helene.
On Sunday, Oct. 5 at around 1 p.m., Susan Kimbrough, the director of USF St. Petersburg Housing & Residential Education, emailed all students living on the St. Petersburg campus that administration was tracking the storm. Later that day, at 9 p.m., she emailed students asking for their plans in the event of an evacuation.
With Hurricane Helene, a similar email asking about evacuation plans was sent out, and approximately 24 hours later the university announced canceled classes, university closures across all campuses and the closure of the residence halls at the St. Petersburg campus.
Hurricane Milton is currently expected to make landfall in Florida on Wednesday, Oct. 9, with up to 125 mph winds and between 5-8 inches of rainfall, according to The Weather Channel. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Saturday announced a state of emergency for Pinellas County and other counties along Florida’s Gulf Coast.
All Pinellas County Schools and offices are also closed from Monday, Oct. 7 to Wednesday, Oct. 9, in preparation for the storm. St. Petersburg College has also announced that it will remain open Monday, Oct. 7, but will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday, Oct. 8 and 9.
Hurricane Helene hit Florida’s Big Bend area on Sept. 26 as a Category 4 hurricane. Many local businesses and residents are still in the process of cleaning up and rebuilding after flooding and record storm surge in the Tampa Bay area. An estimated 12 people died in Pinellas County, according to Fox 13, and there were about “800,000 storm-related power outages across” Florida, according to Duke Energy.
Eckerd College was flooded and lost most power, and has been virtual for students since Hurricane Helene. The college is currently expected to remain virtual until Oct. 18.
With Helene, during the university’s closure, residents of Pelican Apartments, also referred to as “RHO,” were notified via email that the building lost power, like much of St. Petersburg. RHO, along with various other buildings on campus, like the Student Life Center, are located in Evacuation Zone A, which is the first area to be evacuated in the event of potential flooding.
At the time, Interim Director of USFSP Communications and Marketing Matthew Cimitile told students that no storm surge damage or flooding occurred in any of the residence halls at USF St. Petersburg.
Students can learn more about staying safe during the storm by reading the USF Hurricane Guide and monitoring their local news channels for updates, like Fox 13 and The Weather Channel.
