EVMS is closely monitoring Hurricane Irene's development. Although the exact path of Hurricane Irene is still uncertain, there is a strong potential for our campus to experience high winds and heavy rain over the weekend.

Announcements of campus closings or delays will be made through this site, media outlets and the Rave Alert system. All members of the EVMS community are encouraged to log in to Rave Alert and verify their contact information at: https://www.getrave.com/login/evms.

Students, faculty, staff and residents should check the EVMS home page for the latest information. In the event that EVMS closes, residents assigned to non-EVMS facilities should follow the policies/procedures of their hosting facility.

Delay or closing information also will be communicated to the following media: WAVY-TV 10, WVEC-TV 13, WTKR-TV 3, FOX 43, WGNT-TV 27, WHRO, various radio stations, Facebook and Twitter.

Preparation for hurricanes

You should begin the process of readying supplies, staff and facilities for implementation of the suggested storm preparations.  You will receive additional notices with instructions if weather reports continue to forecast hazardous conditions.  Following the recommended actions is required due diligence for insurance carriers.  Failure to comply could compromise your ability to return to normal business operations.

Current weather reports require that we be prudent in planning systems backups, down time and recovery. EVMS Data Centers will be taking the following actions:

• Administration's and Health Services' Data Processing departments will be making the necessary arrangements to secure their sites.  Please note that main systems supported by these departments may be powered down and secured in preparation for the storm.  It is possible that these systems will not be available for periods of time.
• The Network Information Center, the Data Base Center and the Communications Department will attempt to maintain services throughout the storm.  However, interruptions in service from outside vendors (telephone, internet, power, water) may affect their ability to provide internal services.

 It is strongly suggested that you secure all electronic equipment before you leave the premises.

EVMS Storm Preparations

Securing your equipment and exercising 'due diligence' in storm preparation is necessary in order to recover expenses from damage or repair from our insurance carriers.  Also, should we suffer significant damage, replacing equipment could take weeks or months. 

• DO NOT UNPLUG YOUR PHONES.
• BACKUP all PCs and take backup to an offsite location.
• LOWER BLINDS and CLOSE CURTAINS to reduce possible damage from rain and flying debris.
• REMOVE ALL OBJECTS FROM WINDOW SILLS.
• MOVE ANY EQUIPMENT AND LIGHT-WEIGHT FURNITURE TO CENTER OF ROOM AWAY FROM WINDOWS.  This has more to do with water damage from a broken window than blowing around.  Especially, move any light-weight tables that have expensive equipment on top.
• UNPLUG ALL UNNECESSARY EQUIPMENT to protect from power surges.  Even surge suppressors will burn out if subjected to repeated surges, and an extra-strong surge can go straight through a turned-off switch, via arcing, hence the UNPLUG IT instruction. Make sure the plug is at least 3 feet away from a power source.
• RAISE ALL ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT off the floor onto table and chairs in case there is floor flooding.  This is particularly important to first floors of buildings succeptible to flooding like SRH.
• DO NOT LOCATE EQUIPMENT UNDER CEILING HEATING/AC DIFFUSERS.  These are ceiling breach points if flooding occurs on an upper floor.
• COVER ALL EQUIPMENT AND ARTICLES YOU WANT PROTECTED WITH PLASTIC in case of window breakage or ceiling leakage.
• CHARGE CELL PHONES AND BATTERIES in case there is an emergency weather alert from EVMS.
• MAKE NOTE OF WEB SITES FOR LOCAL INFORMATION such as:
  • http://www.evms.edu Official EVMS site will display information about EVMS' operational status
  • http://www.erh.noaa.gov/er/akq/  National Weather Service Forecast Office, Wakefield, VA
  • http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/  National Weather Service National Hurricane Center,  NOAA