8:15 P.M. AUG. 29 UPDATE - DELAYED OPENING Tuesday Aug. 30 for non-critical staff until 11 a.m. - Storm causes road closures

Continued updates for campus hurricane-safety response to be posted on home page. The next update will be posted around 8 a.m. Tuesday.

Princeton University will delay its opening until 11 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 30, for non-critical and non-essential staff because of power outages and road closures following Hurricane Irene. All critical and essential employees should report to work at their normal duty times. Other staff who support some key operations will be contacted directly about also reporting at normal duty times.

The University's Tiger Transit system will resume normal operations Tuesday, and will be available to staff reporting at normal duty times, beginning at 5 a.m. Critical and essential employees will continue to receive guidance from their supervisors about reporting to work.

This update to previous announcements about Princeton's campus safety following Hurricane Irene contains additional information updating road closures and traffic conditions.

Faculty Road remains closed between Washington Road and Elm Drive because of ongoing utility repairs. Utility technicians have shut off power in the area to make line repairs, affecting power to some buildings. Several other University buildings also are without power, including University housing complexes located away from the central campus.

Several key roads that lead to the campus are now open, but these following roads remain closed: Harrison Street at the D&R Canal; Route 206 north and south of Princeton; and Rosedale Road west of Princeton. Traffic conditions can be monitored through Google traffic or Beat the Traffic, but please note that these independent sites vary in functionality.  

While move-in for most undergraduates does not take place until September -- on Sept. 3 for incoming freshmen participating in the Outdoor Action and Community Action pre-orientation programs, and Sept. 10 for other students -- arrangements for continued meal and other limited services are being made for the estimated 500 undergraduate students on campus for sports teams, campus research, and other functions, and the additional 300 students expected to arrive beginning Tuesday for international student orientation and training for pre-orientation programs. Most of the University's estimated 2,500 graduate students also are on campus. 

The normal dining hours for Whitman College for all students this week are: 7 to 10 a.m. for breakfast, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for lunch and 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. for dinner. Students may dine using Paw Points or Student Charge. Tuesday, Aug. 30, Frist and all Dining Services retail operations will resume normal business hours. Frist Dining will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the cafes at the Woodrow Wilson School and Chancellor Green will open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Students living in graduate units without electricity or gas may use the kitchen in the Common Room at New Graduate College and the kitchens at Old Graduate College (4th and 9th entrances). Access to the Old Graduate College kitchens is only through entryways 12 and 15, or the entrance facing parking Lot 19. Access to the buildings is limited to those with graduate student identification cards or PROX cards.

The home page, www.princeton.edu, will continue to be the primary source for general information related to the storm. Campus opening and closing information also is available on the University's weather emergency hotline, (609) 258-SNOW. The University also is providing information via Princeton's Facebook page and Twitter feed.

The University's Office of Human Resources also maintains a weather emergency reference page for employees.

Guidance for residents of University housing and rental housing

For residents experiencing power outages, follow this guidance:

  • Use caution within your residence and on the stairs, as lighting is minimal.
  • Do not open your refrigerator or freezer; this will keep items cold and frozen.
  • Do not use candles or any other open flame as a light or heat source.
  • Carefully unplug carbon monoxide detectors in your residence and remove the battery if they start beeping (remove the panel located on the back of the unit to access the battery).
  • For residents of Butler Tract, Hibben-Magie, Lawrence, Stanworth and other off-campus University housing, if power fails and then is restored, please allow about two hours for the hot water, cooling and any elevators to be operational. These systems take some time to restart.
  • PROX cards needed for entry do not always work during power failures. In the event this occurs, members of the campus community should call Public Safety.

Because August has been a wet month, ground saturation suggests that people with basements may experience an ingress of water or flooding.

Members of the campus community may report any flooding, clogged exterior drains or other hazardous conditions to the Facilities Customer Service Center at (609) 258-8000.