Campus Alert Archive
CCU

53 Chants Bused to Clemson: Coastal Carolina's Three-Week Closure for Hurricane Florence

SChurricaneemergency notificationmedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

On September 10, 2018, Coastal Carolina University announced it would close beginning Tuesday, September 11 ahead of Hurricane Florence — following Governor Henry McMaster's mandatory evacuation order for hurricane evacuation zones in 8 coastal counties (including Horry County, where CCU is located). CCU evacuated 53 residence-hall students by bus to Clemson University and others to Myrtle Beach International Airport and the Florence Amtrak depot. The campus remained closed for an entire week, with classes suspended for nearly three weeks total due to extensive river flooding across Horry County.

Alerts
3
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
Coastal Carolina University
Public Masters · SC
~10,500 studentsCCU Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

3 messages in sequence

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTEmail
Approximate reconstruction544 chars
Coastal Carolina University will close beginning Tuesday, September 11. All classes are canceled and only essential employees are to be on campus after 8 a.m. Monday, September 10 to assist with student evacuation and storm preparations. Students living in residence halls who do not have a destination must report to designated evacuation pickup points. Transportation will be provided to Clemson University, Myrtle Beach International Airport, and the Amtrak station in Florence, S.C. Monitor your CCU email and ccu.edu/hurricane for updates.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

CCU's September 9 decision to close beginning September 11 followed Governor McMaster's mandatory evacuation order for hurricane evacuation zones in 8 coastal counties (including Horry, where CCU is located) effective September 11 at noon
The reference to 'Clemson University, Myrtle Beach International Airport, and the Amtrak station in Florence' is verified — these were the three documented evacuation destinations CCU coordinated for residence-hall students
53 Chants (Coastal Carolina's nickname is 'Chanticleers') were ultimately bused to Clemson, accompanied by housing and public safety personnel
UPDATESMS
Approximate reconstruction181 chars
CCU Alert: Campus is now closed. All classes canceled until further notice. Only essential employees on campus. Students who have not evacuated, do so immediately. ccu.edu/hurricane

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

CCU's [Hurricane FAQ page](https://www.coastal.edu/hurricane/faqs/) explains: 'A CCU Alert text and email will be issued followed by a detailed email communication. The CCU Text Alert only allows enough characters to get your attention with an abbreviated message.'
The standard CCU pattern is a brief SMS alert directing recipients to a longer email and the dedicated hurricane.coastal.edu page
FOLLOW-UPEmail
Approximate reconstruction460 chars
Coastal Carolina University will resume operations and classes will reconvene on Monday, October 1, 2018. Beginning Monday, September 24, classes will resume in alternative format for those courses where appropriate, most often through online activities and assignments. Faculty will communicate with students directly. Make-up of lost instructional time will include possible Saturday classes and the elimination of two days of vacation prior to Thanksgiving.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

CCU lost a total of 14 instructional days due to Florence and ensuing river flooding
The phased reopening — alternative-format on September 24, full reopening October 1 — became a model that other Carolina coastal institutions referenced for subsequent hurricane closures
The decision to eliminate two days of pre-Thanksgiving vacation for makeup classes was widely reported in student outlets
Context

Background

Coastal Carolina University is a public master's university in Conway, South Carolina, about 10 miles inland from Myrtle Beach. With an enrollment of approximately 10,500 students and a residential population of about 4,500, CCU faces an annual hurricane risk that shapes its emergency-management posture. On September 9, 2018, as Hurricane Florence intensified to Category 4 and began to threaten the Carolinas, Governor Henry McMaster ordered mandatory evacuations for hurricane evacuation zones in 8 coastal counties (Jasper, Beaufort, Colleton, Charleston, Dorchester, Berkeley, Georgetown, and Horry — where CCU is located) effective September 11 at noon. CCU announced its closure the same day, beginning Tuesday September 11, and coordinated a multi-modal evacuation: 53 residence-hall students were bused to Clemson University accompanied by housing and public safety personnel; others were taken to the Myrtle Beach International Airport and the Amtrak depot in Florence, South Carolina. By the time Florence passed through Horry County it had weakened to a tropical storm, and actual physical damage to the CCU campus was minimal. However, river flooding extended the closure far beyond the initial timeline — the campus remained closed through September 28, with classes suspended for nearly three weeks total. CCU's Hurricane FAQs note that the CCU Alert text-message system is intentionally limited to brief messages that direct students to email and the dedicated hurricane.coastal.edu page for detailed instructions. The 14 lost instructional days were made up through alternative-format coursework beginning September 24, Saturday classes, and the elimination of two pre-Thanksgiving vacation days. The case is a notable contrast to UNC Wilmington's parallel evacuation: while UNCW partnered with UNC Asheville 300 miles away, CCU partnered with Clemson 175 miles inland, and both institutions closed for approximately two weeks.
Analysis

Key Findings

CCU coordinated a multi-modal evacuation: 53 residence-hall students were bused to Clemson University, while others were transported to the Myrtle Beach International Airport and the Amtrak depot in Florence, S.C.
The campus was closed for an entire week and classes were suspended for nearly three weeks due to river flooding that extended the impact period well beyond Florence's actual landfall
CCU lost 14 instructional days, made up through alternative-format coursework beginning September 24, Saturday classes, and the elimination of two pre-Thanksgiving vacation days
CCU's Hurricane FAQ page documents the alert philosophy: 'CCU Alert text and email will be issued followed by a detailed email communication' — the SMS is short by design
The case parallels UNC Wilmington's response to the same hurricane (UNCW partnered with UNC Asheville 300 miles away; CCU partnered with Clemson 175 miles inland)
Outcome
CCU closed beginning Tuesday, September 11 and remained closed through Friday, September 28. Classes resumed October 1, 2018. Fifty-three residence-hall students were bused to Clemson University with a Coastal Carolina housing and public safety escort. Other students were transported to the Myrtle Beach International Airport and to the Amtrak depot in Florence, South Carolina. Florence passed directly through CCU as a tropical storm by the time it reached Horry County, and actual damage to the campus was minimal — but the storm and its aftermath forced the suspension of classes for nearly three weeks. The university worked to make up 14 lost instructional days through alternative-format coursework and Saturday classes.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Official
    Coastal Carolina University Atheneum: Hurricane Florence Recovery (CCU)
    coastal.edu
  2. Official
    Hurricane FAQs (Coastal Carolina University)
    coastal.edu
  3. News
    Carolina Colleges Close for Hurricane Florence (Inside Higher Ed)
    insidehighered.com
  4. News
    Coastal Carolina canceling classes Tuesday ahead of Florence (Fox Carolina)
    foxcarolina.com
  5. News
    CCU working on plan to make-up time lost to Florence, river flooding (WMBF News)
    wmbfnews.com
  6. Official
    Gov. McMaster Orders Mandatory Evacuations for Coastal Counties (SCEMD)
    scemd.org
  7. Official
    Hurricane Florence Preliminary Open-File Report (SC DNR)
    dnr.sc.gov
Tags
hurricaneevacuationsouth-carolinacoastal-carolinaccuflorenceconwayclemson-evacuationmulti-modal-evacuationriver-floodinglong-closurepublic-masters
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion