Colleges close ahead of Gustav; LSU moves up kickoff time

By ArkansasOnline Press Service

Colleges are making preparations ahead of Tropical Storm Gustav, which has the potential to become a fierce hurricane that would batter the Gulf area.

Tulane University, New Orleans Parish's largest employer, has closed until at least Sept. 3 under a threat from Gustav.

Also, LSU has moved up the kickoff time of its home opener Saturday against Appalachian State because of concerns over the approach of Tropical Storm Gustav.

A spokesman for the school's board said Gov. Bobby Jindal's office asked for the change from 4 p.m. to 10 a.m.

Spokesman Charles Zewe said the switch was required because of concerns over traffic, as evacuees are expected to be heading north through Baton Rouge.

Gustav, now in the Caribbean Sea, is forecast to strengthen into a hurricane this weekend and strike a portion of Louisiana's coast on Sept. 1 or Sept. 2, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Xavier University and Loyola University have also announced they will close in advance of Gustav's landfall.

"Tulane officials urge students, faculty, and staff to enact their personal emergency preparedness plans," the school said in a statement today.

Tulane and other New Orleans universities closed in 2005 after floods caused by Hurricane Katrina swamped much of the city. Tulane incurred more than $600 million in damages and losses because of the storm three years ago.

This year's incoming first-year class was the first to get back to pre-Katrina levels, spokesman Michael Strecker said in an e-mail interview. In 2004, the year before Katrina, Tulane's entering first-year class was 1,608. This year the school had 1,564 students start.

The year after Katrina, only 826 first-year students enrolled.

Overall, Tulane has 10,800 graduate and undergraduate students, and classes had started on Aug. 27, Strecker said.

Dormitories at the school also were to close at noon. Students who didn't have a place to go were being bused to Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi, 156 miles (251 kilometers) north of New Orleans.

Information for this article was contributed by Bloombergn News and The Associated Press.