August 27, 2021
7:30 p.m.
Dear Tulane Community:
We know that many of you, especially those new to Tulane, may be experiencing considerable stress and anxiety as you view media reports tracking Hurricane Ida’s approach to the Louisiana coast.
While these feelings are certainly understandable, our weather partners at AccuWeather and the National Hurricane Center continue to assure us that, although Ida is projected to strengthen into a Category 3, or possibly a Category 4 storm, it is still forecast to make landfall approximately 90 miles west of New Orleans. This means its highest winds and rainfall will remain away from our area. As a result, New Orleans is expected to experience sustained tropical storm winds of 50-55 mph with gusts up to 70-75 mph and heavy rainfall of 6 to 8 inches beginning Sunday afternoon into Monday morning. Ida’s impact could also result in extended power outages, as well as downed trees and limbs.
When faced with tropical storm conditions such as the ones forecast for our area, our time-tested emergency response calls for us to enact our shelter-in-place protocols. As such, we are busy securing and preparing our community members and our facilities for Ida. This includes ensuring back-up emergency power to residence halls and other essential university buildings. Off-campus students are urged to continue their personal hurricane preparations, including securing batteries, water and non-perishable food to last several days. For more information on personal storm preparations, please visit emergencyprep.tulane.edu/hurricanes. While the university is sheltering-in-place for this storm, and the city of New Orleans has not ordered an evacuation for those living within its levee system, everyone should make their own decision – without fear of academic or employment repercussions – regarding whether they should leave town for the duration of the storm.
To better serve our university community, senior leadership and our emergency preparedness team are remaining on-campus and keeping in constant contact with our weather partners, as well as city and state officials. Tomorrow, we are looking forward to visiting students in their residence halls and throughout campus.
We also have resources available to those who need to speak to someone during this time. If you are a student, you may call The Line, a 24/7 confidential counseling phone service, at 504-264-6074. Students can also reach a Student Affairs Professional On-Call at 504-920-9900 in the case of an emergency. Once the storm has passed, students may go to CAPS for Counseling Services (located on the ground floor of the Diboll Parking Garage) or Case Management and Victim Support Services (located in the LBC, G02) from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday-Thursday and 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday.
The Employee Assistance Program is also available for all employees 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Services are free of charge and completely confidential. Reach New Directions professionals by telephone at 1-800-624-5544 or visit the website at www.ndbh.com, company code: Tulane.
Please remember that we, along with our highly experienced emergency preparedness team, have been through many similar situations through the years. We know that if we work together to keep one another safe, we will weather this storm and emerge as a stronger and closer Tulane family. This is an evolving situation, so please continue to monitor your email for daily updates from Tulane, which will also be posted at tulane.edu/emergency. For any questions, please contact our Call Center at 504-865-5000. In addition, you can stay updated with Nola Ready emergency alerts at ready.nola.gov/alerts.
Michael A. Fitts, President
Robin Forman, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost
Patrick Norton, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
