With severe rain and wind advisories still in effect yesterday, the University closed some operations and asked all noncritical employees to remain home.
The academic schedule was unaffected, but seniors with theses due yesterday received a one-day extension since department secretaries were not present to receive them.
"The University is closed for all non-essential personnel today," Charles Davall, deputy director of operations for Public Safety, wrote in a campus-wide email yesterday morning.
Davall referred faculty, staff and students to the University home page and its emergency preparedness website for updates on the storm.
Executive Vice President of the University Mark Burstein made the decision to close nonessential operations in collaboration with University officials and the local police departments.
Non-essential employees include those not responsible for safety or important services, including dining.
Yesterday morning, Acting Governor Richard Codey signed Executive Order Number 64, which declared a state of emergency in New Jersey. "Residents should not travel unless necessary," a press release on the website of the Office of the Governor said yesterday. Burstein said that when New Jersey declares a state of emergency, "our inclination is to close the campus to non-essential personnel." The state did not mandate that the University close.
"The campus itself doesn't seem to be significantly affected," Burstein said.
Burstein was surprised that there were no serious accidents. Other than slight accumulations of water that he called "ponding," Burstein knew of no flooding on the upper part of campus but added that the boathouse was flooded.
Some eating clubs experienced minor leaking.
"We've been lucky, there have not been any significant leaks," Tower Club president Jon Fernandez said, adding that Tower has one "pesky" leak on the second floor that returns after particularly hard rains.
People will not be allowed into the boathouse until the water recedes due to a risk of electrocution from an automatic backup generator. Most of the equipment is safe from damage, but the boathouse may not have heat or electricity for a few days. Crew is currently training at Jadwin Gym.
Many roads near Princeton were closed, including parts of U.S. Route 1 and U.S. Route 206.
Joseph Perla '09 left campus yesterday morning around 9 a.m. to shop at Wal-Mart, but he soon regretted his decision. The inclement weather prevented him from reaching his destination and impeded his return to campus for more than two hours as he searched for a route that was not flooded.
"It was like being stuck in the labyrinth, but the labyrinth was filled with cars ... moving two miles per hour," he said. "After giving up on Wal-Mart, we only just made it back after illegally taking closed roads. A cop almost pulled us over, which would have been bad because it wasn't our car."
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