UF officials will meet today to discuss how Hurricane Matthew may affect the university for the rest of the week.
UF is monitoring the storm and hasn’t made any decisions on whether to cancel classes later this week, UF spokeswoman Janine Sikes said. The emergency operations team will meet at noon today before making recommendations to UF President Kent Fuchs.
“At this point, we don’t have enough information about the storm’s path and potential impacts to make a decision about (closing campus),” Sikes said.
In preparation for the hurricane, a threat that forced Gov. Rick Scott to place every Florida county under a state of emergency Monday, UF and Santa Fe College have added banners to their main websites for students to monitor the storm and read safety tips. A UF emergency hotline, 1-866-UF-FACTS, has also been set up.
Tuesday’s 8 p.m. forecast showed Hurricane Matthew’s eye was projected to pass just off Florida’s east coast, with Gainesville in the western part of the “cone of uncertainty,” according to the National Hurricane Center. The hurricane is expected to be a Category 3 hurricane by about 2 p.m. Friday, when the storm is currently projected to come closest to Alachua County.
As of 8 p.m. Tuesday, Alachua County had about a 45 percent chance of getting tropical-storm-force winds, which are 39 mph or greater, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Gainesville could start feeling the effects of Hurricane Matthew as early as Thursday evening and as late as Saturday morning, according to an Alachua County media release.
As of press time, Saturday’s UF football game against Louisiana State University will run as scheduled, Sikes said.
The University Athletic Association, working with UF, the Southeastern Conference and local officials, will continue to monitor the storm, she said.
Chip Skinner, the Regional Transit System marketing and communications supervisor, wrote in an email that RTS will be discussing emergency preparations later today after its first emergency operations meeting this afternoon.
Per the bus system’s severe-weather policy, buses will stop running when winds reach 35 mph, Skinner said. RTS is focusing on preparing enough fuel and making sure the facility’s generator can be used.
If evacuations are ordered, RTS buses will help transport residents to emergency shelters, he said.
“If the storm takes a turn towards us, then we will prepare to stage a number of buses away from the RTS compound to assure a portion of the fleet is available,” he said.
Tuesday afternoon, UF sent an email to on-campus residents that said any changes to Student Nighttime Auxiliary Patrol, RTS and campus dining locations will be posted to UF’s Department of Housing and Residence Education website and UF’s website. As of press time, all services are operating as usual.
Jackie Johnson, a spokesman for Alachua County Public Schools, wrote in an email that the school system is currently monitoring the storm and has yet to decide whether to cancel classes.
Jen Horner, an Alachua County emergency management coordinator, said students and Gainesville residents should review emergency plans and buy water and nonperishable food.
“For us right now, it’s really about getting the message out about getting prepared,” she said. “We’re really waiting to see what the storm does.”
