Current forecasts indicate that we will continue to experience moderate to heavy rain through Wednesday evening. The good news for the Houston area – but not so much for our friends in Louisiana – is that both the tropical storm track and area of tornado activity have shifted to the east of Houston.

We have had a great response – 3,621 people as of 7 p.m. – to our request to fill out the needs assessment. We are already learning so much and are putting together plans to respond.

If you have not done so already, all faculty, staff and off-campus students, please visit emergency.rice.edu/needs-assessment as soon as possible. We need to hear from everyone, even if you have not been affected by the storm. If your situation changes, simply fill out the form again. We have a mechanism in place to merge and update data. Please make sure to enter your netID, as that is the unique identifier we are using to link people’s data.

A few status reminders:

• Rice will remain closed through 11:59 p.m. Wednesday.
• The Rec Center will be open Tuesday and Wednesday from noon to 6 p.m. for Rice students, staff and faculty only. A Rice ID is required for entry.
• Fondren Library will be open Tuesday and Wednesday from noon to 8 p.m. for Rice students, staff and faculty only. A Rice ID is required for entry.
• All four serveries (North, South, West and Seibel) will be open Tuesday and Wednesday for brunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and for dinner from 5 to 7 p.m. This is for undergraduates and essential personnel.
• A current list of buildings on campus that have experienced weather-related issues is being managed by FE&P
• We will announce the hours for Student Health Services tomorrow. Questions can always be posed via hlsv@rice.edu.

The Crisis Management Team continues to meet regularly. You can expect another update from us in the morning.

It has been a long few days, and we have many more long days ahead of us. But we will get through it together. In the meantime, know that you are all constantly in our thoughts.

As usual, if you have comments or questions, send an email to cmtcomment@rice.edu.

Marie Lynn Miranda
Provost

Kevin Kirby
Vice President for Administration
Chair of the Crisis Management Team