Saint Leo University Sets Hurricane Irma Plans

ST. LEO, FL — Saint Leo University students are getting a few days off courtesy of Hurricane Irma. The university on Wednesday announced its intention to close on a staggering basis starting Wednesday.

The university’s Pasco County campus ended classes starting at 12:30 p.m. on Sept. 6, but said its men’s soccer game against Florida International University would go on as planned at 7 p.m. or earlier.

“Starting Thursday, Sept. 7, University Campus will be closed for all nonessential personnel,” the school wrote in an email to media. “We anticipate being closed through Sunday, and may reopen as early as Monday, Sept. 11.” Students who live on campus should check with their resident advisors about dining services during the closing. (For more hurricane news or local news from Florida, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Land O’ Lakes Patch, and click here to find your local Florida Patch. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Saint Leo’s support center in Tampa and the Tampa Education Center will close Thursday through Sunday, along with the MacDill office. The school said the following teaching locations and support centers will also close Thursday through Sunday:

• Lakeland Education Center
• Orlando Education Center
• All Saint Leo offices at Pasco-Hernando State College

Students are asked to follow the university’s website for any updates.

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Hurricane Irma, the most powerful Atlantic storm ever recorded, was passing over the northernmost Virgin Islands Wednesday afternoon, packing maximum sustained winds of 185 mph. The potentially catastrophic Category 5 storm’s track shifted in the overnight hours to include almost the entire Florida Peninsula.

• Also see: Hurricane Irma Closing In On Florida

By Wednesday afternoon, hurricane-force winds extended out from Irma by 50 miles from the center. Tropical storm-force winds were extending outward by 185 miles.

While it’s still too early to tell the precise impacts Irma might have on Florida or the United States, forecasters say she bears close monitoring. Irma is expected to remain a major hurricane through the week. The threat Irma poses to Florida prompted Gov. Rick Scott to declare a state of emergency on Monday. The declaration includes all 67 counties within the Sunshine State.

Photo courtesy of Saint Leo University