Tulane operating under normal conditions on Wednesday and Thursday

On Tuesday, Aug. 25, President Michael Fitts, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Patrick Norton, and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Robin Forman, updated the Tulane community on Hurricane Laura and plans for the university's operations for the rest of the week. 

The message read:

Dear Tulane Community:

With the threat of Tropical Storm Marco now past, we turn our attention to Hurricane Laura, which is expected to make landfall near the Louisiana/Texas border – more than 200 miles from New Orleans – Wednesday night or early Thursday morning. We expect minimal impacts from Laura beginning Wednesday morning including, at most, 1-2 inches of rain with brief, occasional wind gusts.

Based on close monitoring and consultation with our highly experienced emergency preparedness team, nationally recognized weather partners and city and state officials, we have determined that we can safely hold in-person classes on Wednesday and continue normal operating conditions through the remainder of the week. The only exception to this will be classes scheduled to take place in our temporary buildings. These classes will be held online Wednesday, while we complete audio and other technology upgrades to these spaces. 

Now that Laura is fully in the Gulf of Mexico, we are assured by our expert meteorologists that forecasts are more stable and reliable. In the unlikely event that there are changes between now and tomorrow with the storm tracking closer to New Orleans, we will notify the Tulane community immediately. The preparations and safety precautions we enacted for Tropical Storm Marco are still in place and we remain confident that our campus community and facilities will be safe should the storm track change and we need to shelter in place. Continue to look for daily email updates from Tulane, which will also be posted online at tulane.edu/emergency. You can also stay updated with NOLA Ready emergency alerts at ready.nola.gov/alerts.

Though we appear to have been spared the worst impacts from both of these storms, we recognize that this has been a very stressful time for our students, faculty and staff. We are mindful and extremely grateful for the commitment, grit, professionalism and cooperation of our entire community, as well as the many long hours of labor necessary to prepare us for any possible storm impacts. We also continue to keep our neighbors, alumni, family and friends who remain in the storm’s path in our thoughts and prayers. We will be with them in their recovery.