Auburn, Lee County and other portions of Southeast Alabama have been placed under a Tropical Storm Watch ahead of the landfall of Hurricane Irma, which is expected to hit Florida and Georgia over the weekend.
The University has canceled all classes on a Monday and suspended normal operations.
When Irma moves into East Alabama on Monday, she will likely be a Tropical Storm with winds between 30–40 mph with possible gusts of up to 55–70 mph. Downed trees and power outages are possible with 1–3 inches of rainfall expected.
The University announced the decision about closing Monday at about 6:20 p.m. On Sunday, the University announced that classes would resume at noon on Tuesday. Employees will return to work at 7:45 a.m. on Tuesday.
"We recognize that we have commuter students and employees, as well as some students who may want to travel home, and are taking all of that into consideration," Campus Safety said about an hour before making the final decision to close.
Residence halls will remain open for on-campus resident and there will be limited Tiger Dining operations.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey issued a state of emergency on Friday.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
