University prepares for threat of Hurricane Isabel

While many students lounged in the sun yesterday, Princeton administrators prepared for the arrival of a major storm.

Though she has lost strength during the last few days, Hurricane Isabel is scheduled to plow through North Carolina this afternoon. According to the National Weather Service forecast, the hurricane will then change into a strong tropical storm, hitting New Jersey with torrential rains and violent winds this evening. An inland storm warning and flood advisory has been issued for local counties.

Princeton officials have been reviewing and revising emergency plans for the worst-case scenario. "We have been working on this for nearly a week now," said Patricia Allen, Princeton University spokesperson.

Allen said facilities officials are prepared to deal with any property damage, leaks and flooding. The National Weather Service advised that with wet soil, leaves on the trees and a potential 12 hours of strong winds, tree downings are a possibility and could lead to sporadic power outages.

The University has been stocked with enough food and water to operate through the weekend.

"We made sure we had all of our deliveries made early so that there would be no shortage of supply," Allen said.

The University has an emergency communications plan, which will convey any important alerts to the University community using email, voicemail and public safety officials, she said.

As for now, Allen said, they are sitting back and watching. "There is not too much we can do other than monitor at this point," she said.

Isabel is not the first hurricane to threaten Princeton. In 1999, Hurricane Floyd prompted the New Jersey governor to declare a state of emergency.

"The entire campus was underwater," Deb Brundage '03 said, reflecting on her freshman year. The flooding resulted in contamination of all drinking water, and students were asked to limit showering to every other day, she said.

"We had just gotten back from OA and barely had enough time to shower before the advisory went into effect," Brundage said.

All washing machines on campus were turned off and students were forced to plan trips to the laundromat to wash their clothing. Meanwhile, dining halls stopped serving drinks and students picked up bottled water at Dillon Gym, Brundage said.

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For more information, storm and emergency updates can be accessed on the University webpage, where links to the Emergency Preparedness Web Site, weather emergency reference for employees page and emergency guideline site for the campus community can also be found.