Several colleges and universities across Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas announced closures ahead of Hurricane Michael which made landfall Wednesday and is expected to wreak havoc along the east coast.
Officials at Francis Marion University located in Florence, S.C. said they are monitoring the situation but won’t close the school as they did when Hurricane Florence passed through the area in September. The storm presented problems for the university’s commuter students who was offered free on-campus housing so they could continue their studies, said Matt McColl, director of media relations at the public liberal arts university.
Gulf Coast State College in Panama City, Fla. is just miles from Mexico Beach Fla., where the storm officially came ashore. The campus is closed through Thursday; activities are canceled through at least Monday, according to the school’s website.
Northwest Florida State College (NWFSC) in Niceville, Fla., about an hour to the west of Panama City, is closed through Thursday.
On Wednesday morning, some 224 people were in NWFSC’s Raider Arena which was turned into an official shelter, according to a tweet from the college.
Officials plan to spend Thursday inspecting campus buildings to ensure they are safe for staff and students to return.
In a period where multiple colleges and universities across the country are on Fall Break, some institutions were able to simply extend the length of the break and have students return to campus once university officials deem the area safe.
