Rice cancels classes and activities due to Hurricane Nicholas

By Bonnie Zhao     9/14/21 10:30pm

All classes and instructional activities were cancelled on Sept. 14 due to widespread power outages caused by Tropical Storm Nicholas, according to an alert sent by the Rice Crisis Management Team. This follows an announcement originally requiring all classes after 5 p.m. on Sept. 13 to be taught remotely.

According to an update sent Tuesday morning, there appeared to be little damage to campus and Rice never lost power from CenterPoint during the storm.

The email also announced that the Gibbs Recreation and Wellness Center, the campus bus service, Fondren Library and The Rice Student Center were expected to reopen Tuesday at noon, weather permitting. COVID-19 testing and flu shot appointments scheduled for Tuesday were all canceled. Rice Coffeehouse remained closed on Sept. 14.

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Baker Servery was closed for breakfast and lunch on Tuesday. North, Seibel, South and West Serveries operated normally, though they offered only continental breakfast in the morning, according to Housing and Dining.

Hurricane Nicholas brought heavy rain and wind to the Houston area Monday evening, causing 209,525 people in the immediate Houston area to lose power and ten freeways to close due to high-water. The University of Houston and Texas Southern University also cancelled all classes through Tuesday.

Part of Crisis Management’s standard response to storms includes attending National Weather Service briefings and preparing response and ride out teams if necessary, according to Jerusha Kasch, institutional director of crisis management.

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