Tulane University evacuating remaining students to emergency site in Houston
School officials said the campus will be shut down and classes will be canceled through Sunday, Sept. 12.
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (KTRK) -- Tulane University announced it will be closing for two weeks and will evacuate its remaining students to an emergency site set up in Houston.
School officials said the campus will be shut down and classes will be canceled through Sunday, Sept. 12.
Starting Tuesday at 10 a.m., school officials will evacuate all remaining students, including undergraduate and graduate students along with its in-residence and off-campus students, to Houston on a bus.
The university is asking all students to pack no more than two pieces of luggage, their computer, and valuable items only. Those who made other arrangements are being asked to leave campus by 5 p.m. Tuesday.
The hub in Houston was set up by Tulane and will provide food and a place to stay for students until they can get flights home.
The school says there's also money available for students who need additional financial support.
More than 1 million homes and businesses in Louisiana and Mississippi - including all of New Orleans - were left without power as Ida, one of the most powerful hurricanes ever to hit the U.S. mainland, pushed through on Sunday.
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The damage was so extensive that officials warned it could be weeks before the power grid was repaired.
As the storm was downgraded to a tropical depression Monday afternoon and continued to make its way inland with torrential rain, it was blamed for at least two deaths - a motorist who drowned in New Orleans and a person hit by a falling tree outside Baton Rouge.
The city urged people who evacuated to stay away for at least a couple of days because of the lack of power and fuel. "There's not a lot of reasons to come back," said Collin Arnold, chief of emergency preparedness.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
