Duke, Durham brace for Hurricane Floyd

First Fran and now Floyd; the sixth letter of the alphabet has been inspiring some four-letter words from many members of the University community.

For days now, most Durham residents have kept an eye on the menacing Floyd, a Category 4 hurricane that stretches a monstrous 600 miles across with sustained punishing winds of 140 mph.

Across the southeast, residents are fleeing the coastline in droves, forcing the largest peacetime evacuation in U.S. history. Even Mickey Mouse chose not to tempt the storm as Walt Disney World closed for the first time ever.

Watching this chaos, Durham residents' cautious concern morphed into all-out fear as one weather report after another placed the überstorm on a path to hit the Triangle.

The storm is expected to produce rain and violent winds in the area Wednesday night, with the eye passing over Raleigh Thursday afternoon. At the University, which must make sure its buildings and Medical Center remain operational and all members of the Duke community remain safe, the storm has sent officials scrambling to stockpile provisions and prepare for a potential emergency.

Such an all-out mobilization was last necessary in 1996, when Hurricane Fran unexpectedly lashed out at the Triangle with exceptionally strong winds and driving rain. "Based on our experience with Hurricane Fran, we are bracing for the possibility of a direct hit," said Janet Dickerson, vice president for student affairs. "Although I think we all hope the storm will miss us."

Administrators met Tuesday afternoon to discuss preparations and they will meet again this afternoon to decide whether classes will be canceled Thursday. Decisions about canceling bus service or instituting a mandatory curfew will also be made as the storm nears and the winds pick up.

Administrative decisions will be posted on the University's information hotline, 684-INFO, local television and the Duke News Service web site. There will also be weather and policy updates on The Chronicle Online and DevilNet.

Dickerson said preparations seem under control, and her office is now focusing on communicating the storm's risks to students. "This storm is predicted to be exceedingly dangerous, so we are imploring everyone to remain indoors until the severe weather has passed," she said. General safety guidelines will be posted across campus, and the Office of Student Development is encouraging students in dorms and Central Campus Apartments to stay away from windows.

But students seemed disinterested in the storm. "Our house is pretty messy anyway, I don't think it really matters [if it gets hit]," said Cassidy Dugan, a Trinity senior who lives off campus.

Julie Viner, a Trinity senior who went mudsliding during Fran, said she was not too concerned. "It's going to suck with all the rain," she said.

In a written statement, Executive Vice President Tallman Trask added that "the University believes it is very important to be prepared for the worst-case situation."

Pumps and generators are ready and fueled and stores of plywood are on hand, said Al Rossiter, director of the Duke News Service. Grounds crews will also be standing by to clear any downed trees.

Joe Pietrantoni, associate vice president for auxiliary services, said the University has six days worth of food on hand, and guaranteed that at least the Great Hall and the Marketplace would be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Preparing for such a catastrophic meteorological event is always daunting for an institution of such size and scope, but it could have been particularly difficult Tuesday, when many of the University's senior administrators-including the president, executive vice president, provost and chief public relations officer-were out of their offices.

But President Nan Keohane, who returned to the office yesterday afternoon, said most of the initial preparations can occur without senior administrators' oversight. "I think we're on track," she said. "People who have direct responsibility are supposed to pull together first and assess the situation.... Even if we'd been in our offices all day, I don't think it would have been any different."

Karen Hines, a Medical Center spokesperson, said Duke Hospital has an explicit emergency plan. "It's a matter, at this point, of starting to execute the well-thought-out plan," she said, adding that the plan is tested a few times each year.

The threat of a direct hit from a storm as massive as Floyd also creates problems for smaller sub-sections of the University. The athletic department must decide what to do with scheduled matches-most notably Saturday's home football game against Northwestern University.

"We're not going to play any sporting event where people's lives are in danger," said Mike Cragg, director of sports information. Decisions about specific games will be made later through discussions with the competing schools and, in the case of football, with the television stations scheduled to air the game.

At Duke's Marine Lab in Beaufort, which has already been evacuated twice this semester due to Hurricane Dennis, officials must decide whether to batten down the hatches once again. Scott Taylor, a spokesperson for the Marine Lab, said no decision will be made until 8 a.m. today, when the lab's management team will meet to consider its options.

"If it keeps its projected path, we should not be in any real trouble...," he said from Beaufort. "It looks like you all might actually have more trouble from this than we will."

Durham residents are scrambling to Floyd-proof their homes before the predictions of heavy winds and torrential downpours become a harsh, wet reality. At the University, faculty seemed to be slowly realizing that this storm is on its way.

"I'm totally unprepared," said Claudia Buchmann, assistant professor of sociology, who had just gotten off the phone with her grandmother in Florida. "I haven't been watching the news, I've been just so immersed in the new semester."

But Buchmann said she is taking the storm seriously and that she plans to prepare as much as possible today. "I moved to Durham about two weeks before Fran," she said. "Fran gave me a new appreciation for what hurricanes can do."

Steven Churchill, assistant professor of biological anthropology and anatomy, said he feels generally prepared and has water, candles and batteries at home. He, too, stressed that this is a busy time of the year that prevents professors from preparing too heavily. "Lots of these are external deadlines. I owe [an abstract] to California, and they're not worried about this hurricane, so I can't be either."

He added, however, that he hoped this storm will be kinder than Fran, which knocked down six or seven oak trees in his yard. "To have the same thing happen again, I think I'd just quit and leave and go back [home] to New Mexico," he said.

Jaime Levy and Greg Pessin contributed to this story.

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