Campus Alert Archive
COA

A Four-Campus Community College Delays the First Day of Fall as Cat 4 Erin Forces Mandatory Evacuation of Hatteras and Ocracoke

NChurricaneemergency notificationmedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

On Sunday evening, August 17, 2025, with Hurricane Erin a Category 4 offshore) and Dare County under a state of emergency, College of The Albemarle announced it would delay the start of its fall 2025 semester until at least Wednesday, August 20 — closing all four of its campuses (Elizabeth City, Currituck, Dare, and Edenton-Chowan). The closure extended through Thursday, August 21 as the storm pushed surge into the Outer Banks. Mandatory evacuations were in effect for Hatteras and Ocracoke islands, and more than 2,200 residents and visitors were evacuated.

Alerts
2
Response
min
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
College of The Albemarle
Community College · NC
~2,300 studentsCOA Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 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 reconstructionRoanoke-Chowan News-Herald reconstruction of the COA closure announcement, which paraphrased the official COA statement and quoted the line 'Our decision reflects the need to keep the entire COA community safe.'519 chars
College of The Albemarle will delay the start of the fall 2025 semester due to Hurricane Erin. All COA locations — Elizabeth City, Currituck, Dare, and Edenton-Chowan — will be closed beginning Monday, August 18, through at least Wednesday, August 20. Students, faculty, and staff should not report to campus during this time. Essential personnel are expected to report if possible; employees unsure of their status should contact their supervisors. Our decision reflects the need to keep the entire COA community safe.

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

Reconstructed; the verbatim quote 'Our decision reflects the need to keep the entire COA community safe' is documented in the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald and Daily Advance reporting on the Sunday evening announcement
COA serves four counties in northeastern North Carolina, including the entire Outer Banks via the Dare campus — making it one of the most coastally exposed community colleges in the US
The announcement came hours after Dare County officials declared a state of emergency and issued evacuation orders for Hatteras Island on Sunday, August 17
UPDATEEmail
Approximate reconstructionEdNC reporting that COA remained closed for students and employees on Thursday, August 21, with this closure applying to all four campuses, and that classes scheduled to meet on Thursday took place online390 chars
College of The Albemarle will remain closed Thursday, August 21 for all four campuses — Elizabeth City, Currituck, Dare, and Edenton-Chowan. Although facilities will be closed, all classes scheduled to meet on Thursday will take place online. Students should check Canvas for instructions from their instructors. Please continue to follow guidance from local emergency management officials.

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

Reconstructed; the operational facts — closure of all four campuses, online instruction Thursday — are reported directly by EdNC
The hybrid 'facility closure but online classes' approach reflects COA's adaptation since COVID, when fully online operation became feasible for most courses
The decision to keep classes running online prevented additional schedule disruption for adult students juggling work and childcare, who depend on the early-semester catch-up window
Context

Background

College of The Albemarle is a public community college serving seven counties in northeastern North Carolina, with four campuses: Elizabeth City (main), Currituck, Dare (in the Outer Banks at Manteo), and Edenton-Chowan. The Dare campus serves the only Outer Banks community-college population in the state, and its student body includes residents of Hatteras and Ocracoke islands, both of which were under mandatory evacuation orders beginning Sunday, August 17 and Tuesday, August 19 as Hurricane Erin intensified to a Category 5 offshore). On Sunday evening, August 17, 2025, COA announced it would delay the start of the fall 2025 semester until at least Wednesday, August 20. The closure was later extended through Thursday, August 21, with classes meeting online while facilities remained closed. By Friday, August 22, all four COA campuses had reopened. Hurricane Erin never made landfall in the US, but its closest pass to North Carolina on August 21 brought major coastal flooding at Duck, 15-20 foot waves, and dangerous rip currents along the entire East Coast. The case is significant for documenting how a small, geographically dispersed community college serving the most hurricane-exposed counties in North Carolina manages multi-day operational decisions when a major hurricane stays offshore — a scenario that has become more common as Atlantic storms increasingly track parallel to the coast.
Analysis

Key Findings

COA is one of the few US community colleges with a campus directly on the Outer Banks (Dare campus in Manteo), giving it acute hurricane exposure unlike most North Carolina higher-ed institutions
The closure decision was made hours after Dare County's state-of-emergency declaration on August 17, demonstrating tight integration between county emergency management and the college's operational decisions
All four campuses closed together — a key choice that reflects COA's recognition that 'many of its students, faculty, and staff travel between all four locations,' even when only the Dare campus was directly threatened
The hybrid 'facility closed, classes online' model on August 21 reflects post-COVID community-college flexibility now standard at hurricane-zone institutions
COA's response stood in contrast to most other UNC-system schools, which kept normal schedules — UNCW limited its action to a rip-current safety advisory rather than closing campus
Outcome
All four COA campuses reopened by Friday, August 22, 2025. Hatteras Island Early College students attended remotely while Dare Early College met in person at the COA-Dare Campus. No injuries were reported on COA property. Hurricane Erin caused [extensive beach erosion, major coastal flooding at Duck, NC](https://www.weather.gov/akq/Aug212025_Erin), and closures of NC-12 through Hatteras and Ocracoke islands — but the storm's center stayed offshore.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    COA Delays Start of Fall Semester (Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald)
    roanoke-chowannewsherald.com
  2. News
    Hurricane Erin Updates: What to Know about Tropical Storm Warning and Closures of Schools and Community Colleges (EdNC)
    ednc.org
  3. News
    College of the Albemarle Delays Semester Start as Hurricane Erin Prompts Evacuations (13NewsNow)
    13newsnow.com
  4. Official
    Hurricane Erin (Dare County, NC)
    darenc.gov
  5. Source
    Hurricane Erin (2025) (Wikipedia)
    en.wikipedia.org
  6. Official
    Summary of Impacts from Hurricane Erin (NWS Wakefield)
    weather.gov
  7. News
    COA Delays Start of School Year as Erin Nears Coast (Daily Advance)
    dailyadvance.com
Tags
hurricaneweathernorth-carolinacommunity-collegeouter-bankshurricane-erin2025-atlantic-seasonevacuationcategory-5coastal-flooding
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion