USF extends campus closures until at least Monday

There was some flooding in the area located in front of the USF Bookstore and by the Student Services Building Breezeway. ORACLE PHOTO/LILY FOX

All USF campuses will remain closed until at least Monday and classes will only be held asynchronously as teams continue to assess the damages from Hurricane Milton.

Students will not have to meet with their class remotely, according to a universitywide email sent Friday afternoon. Professors can assign work on Monday but the due date must not be the same day.

Business operations will also continue remotely, except those classified as essential personnel.

Monday will mark a full week since the campuses were originally shut down ahead of the storm.

All residence halls are still closed. However, the students who evacuated to Jennings Middle School were brought back to campus on Thursday, according to a university spokeswoman.

The university said it is prioritizing dorms and dining halls on campus, according to the email. Though the goal is to open both on Monday, the email said St. Pete dorms and dining areas may take longer due to the city’s boil water notice.

St. Pete residents were urged to boil tap water before using it, whether that is to drink, brush their teeth, cook or clean, according to the city’s website.

Hurricane Milton, which made landfall in Siesta Key, Sarasota as a Category 3, left Tampa Bay reeling in its wake.

High wind gusts, which reached 93 miles per hour, and over 11 inches of rain caused flooding and damage in Tampa.

Around the Tampa campus, there was major flooding along Fowler Avenue and the University Mall area.

There was also flooding on campus around the USF Bookstore and the Student Services Building, the Carol & Frank Morsani Center for Advanced Healthcare, as well as some areas near Simmons Park.

*A fallen tree could be spotted while walking around the Holly buildings on campus. ORACLE PHOTO/LILY FOX*

Some fallen trees and debris was also seen, including the wooden benches by the Bookstore and a piece of metal by the Marshall Student Center.

There are still over 1,000 customers without power in the areas around the university as of Friday at 5:30 p.m., according to TECO’s outage map.

Damage to the St. Pete and Sarasota-Manatee campuses, which both overlook the water, were unclear at the time of publication.

The university urged people not to come back to the campuses until they are notified that it is safe to return.

Classes in downtown Tampa will meet in-person on Monday, as the facility is “fully operational,” according to the email.

The USF football game against Memphis was also relocated to Orlando earlier this week. Originally supposed to take place at Raymond James stadium on Friday night, the game was moved to Saturday afternoon in Camping World Stadium in respect to recovery efforts in Tampa.

*The top of a Bull Runner bus stop near the Library appears to have come off during the storm. ORACLE PHOTO/LILY FOX*

It is also unclear how the closure will affect USF’s Homecoming events, a 60-year-old tradition.

All campuses had some events planned on Monday. The Tampa campus was meant to celebrate with “Color the Campus” on Sunday and “Homecoming Kickoff,” which featured an Aux Cord Wars with DJs, the next day.

The St. Pete campus was also planning to have a Homecoming Breakfast and Bouquet Craft Night on Monday, while the Sarasota-Manatee campus would feature the Homecoming Royalty Crowning and “Acai & Access” on Monday.

Camila Gomez, Editor in Chief

Camila Gomez is the editor in chief of The Oracle. She's a political science and mass communications double major. She started at The Oracle in fall 2022 as a correspondent and worked her way up to managing editor. She grew up in Nicaragua and has a strong desire to build community through her reporting. Reach her at oracleeditor@gmail.com.

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