Duke to evacuate Marine Lab, probably not cancel the Durham classes as Dorian gets ready

Another year, another hurricane forces evacuations and cancels classes at Duke's Marine Lab.

Duke will evacuate students from the Beaufort Marine Lab in Durham Wednesday morning and cancel classes at the lab Wednesday to Friday in preparation for the impact of Hurricane Dorian, according to a press release. Last September, Hurricane Florence swept the area, forcing the school to cancel classes for weeks and leaving many damaged buildings in the lab.

Duke's main campus is less likely to suffer significant consequences. Projections report less than 3 inches of rain for the region, but flooding could be a problem in some low-lying areas, the statement said. The University does not plan to activate its extreme weather and emergency policy, which could cancel courses in Durham.

School officials expect the storm – which was a Category 5 hurricane – to be Grade 2 near the coast of North Carolina. Hurricane monitoring has been issued for the region, including the Marine Lab.

The coastal Carolinas can expect rainfall of 5 to 10 inches and up to 15 inches in some areas, said the National Hurricane Center in an update of 14:00. Tuesday.

According to the NHC update, Raleigh has a 26% chance of seeing winds of 39mph or more, and 4% winds of 58mph or more.

According to Duke's press release, "the winds should not withstand tropical storms", but "as a precaution, outdoor furniture and loose objects must be secured or moved by Wednesday night"

In 2018, Hurricane Florence was downgraded from a Category 4 storm over the ocean into a Category 1 storm at the time of landing. Beaufort ran out of food in the storm that damaged the Marine Lab.

However, Nancy Kelly, director of the Nicholas community campaign and events at Duke, told The Chronicle last February. Marine Lab students and faculty also contributed to relief efforts.

"Duke has a lot of resources that others in the community do not have," Kelly said at the time.

This year, Dorian lost at least five people after ravaging the Bahamas. The storm is moving slowly, but winds were blowing up to 220 km / h at some point, the Tampa Bay Times reported.