UF began preparations for Hurricane Matthew today but hasn’t yet made a decision about closing the school later this week.
UF is monitoring the storm, UF Spokeswoman Janine Sikes said. The university has set up an alert and update link at ufl.edu for students to monitor the storm and get safety tips.
An emergency hotline, 1-866-UF FACTS, is also being set up, she said.
“At this point, we don’t have enough information about the storm’s path and potential impacts to make a decision about (closing campus),” Sikes said.
Monday’s 5 p.m. forecast showed the hurricane, previously projected to go east of Florida, had shifted west, according to the National Hurricane Center. Hurricane Matthew is projected to be a Category 3 hurricane around 2 p.m. Friday when the storm is currently projected to come closest to Alachua County.
On Monday, Florida Gov. Rick Scott declared a state of emergency for all Florida counties.
Chip Skinner, the Regional Transit System department marketing and communications supervisor, wrote in an email that RTS will be discussing emergency preparations later today after its first Emergency Operations meeting this afternoon.
Per RTS’ severe weather policy, busses will shut down when winds reach 35 mph, he said. RTS is focusing on preparing enough fuel and making sure the facility’s generator can be used, and it will assist if evacuations are ordered.
“If the storm takes a turn towards us, then we will prepare to stage a number of buses away from the RTS compound to assure a portion of the fleet is available,” he said.
