Campus Alert Archive
NC State

NC State Suspends Operations for 96 Hours as Hurricane Florence Stalls Over the Carolinas — Raleigh's Largest University Shutters Classes Through Sunday

NChurricaneemergency notificationmedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

On Tuesday, September 11, 2018, North Carolina State University announced via WolfAlert that the campus would suspend normal operations beginning at 5:00 PM EDT on Wednesday, September 12, as Hurricane Florence — at the time a Category 4 storm — bore down on the Carolinas. Classes were cancelled Thursday and Friday, and the suspension was extended through 5:00 PM EDT Sunday, September 16. NC State did not play its scheduled football game against West Virginia. The storm stalled and moved inland slowly, dumping record-breaking rainfall across North Carolina — Florence ultimately produced the wettest tropical cyclone on record for the state.

Alerts
3
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
North Carolina State University
Public R1 · NC
~35,000 studentsRave Mobile SafetyWolfAlert
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 ALERTmulti-channel
Approximate reconstruction246 chars
WolfAlert: NC State will suspend normal operations (Condition 2) beginning at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 12, due to Hurricane Florence. No classes after 5 p.m. Wednesday and no classes Thursday or Friday. Residence halls and dining will remain open.

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

Reconstructed: NC State officially announced Condition 2 status per UNC System adverse weather policy, but the verbatim WolfAlert text was not preserved in publicly available archives
Condition 2 (Suspended Operations) is the second-highest UNC System adverse weather status, indicating that all non-essential operations are halted
NC State distinguishes Condition 1 (Reduced Operations) from Condition 2 — Condition 2 cancels classes and closes most facilities
UPDATEmulti-channel
Approximate reconstruction245 chars
WolfAlert: All classes cancelled after 5 p.m. today through Sunday, Sept. 16. NC State Athletics has cancelled the Sept. 15 football game against West Virginia. Students unable to travel should contact University Housing. Stay tuned for updates.

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

Reconstructed: NC State Athletics officially cancelled the September 15 football game against West Virginia per ABC11 and Wolfpack athletics communications
Residence halls remained open throughout the storm for students unable to travel home — particularly international and out-of-state students
ALL CLEARmulti-channel
Approximate reconstruction256 chars
WolfAlert: NC State will resume normal operations at 5 p.m. today, Sunday, Sept. 16. Classes will resume on a regular schedule Monday morning. The Student Emergency Fund is available for students affected by Hurricane Florence. Thank you for your patience.

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

Reconstructed: NC State officially announced resumption of normal operations effective 5 PM EDT Sunday September 16
The Student Emergency Fund was actively mobilized to support students whose families were affected by flooding from Florence's record-breaking rainfall
Context

Background

North Carolina State University is a public R1 research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, with approximately 35,000 students — making it the largest university in North Carolina and the third-largest in the UNC System. Hurricane Florence developed in the Atlantic in late August 2018 and was at one point forecast to make landfall on the North Carolina coast as a Category 4 hurricane. On Tuesday, September 11, 2018, NC State announced via WolfAlert that the campus would move to Condition 2 (Suspended Operations) at 5 PM EDT on Wednesday, September 12 — the UNC System's standard pre-storm operational status for major weather events. Classes were cancelled Thursday and Friday, and the suspension was extended through 5 PM EDT Sunday, September 16. The scheduled September 15 football game against West Virginia was cancelled, as were home football games at Duke, UNC, and ECU. Hurricane Florence made landfall near Wrightsville Beach, NC on September 14 as a Category 1 hurricane but then stalled over the Carolinas, dumping unprecedented rainfall — Florence ultimately produced 36 inches of rain in some locations, the highest single-storm rainfall total ever recorded in North Carolina. NC State residence halls remained open through the storm for students unable to travel, and the university's Student Emergency Fund was mobilized to support students whose families were displaced by flooding. The case is significant as a benchmark for how the UNC System's Condition 2 adverse weather protocol cascades from a single WolfAlert message into a multi-day university-wide shutdown.
Analysis

Key Findings

NC State suspended normal operations for approximately 96 hours — from 5 PM EDT Wednesday September 12 through 5 PM EDT Sunday September 16 — per UNC System Condition 2 adverse weather protocol
The September 15 football game against West Virginia was cancelled (one of multiple ACC football games postponed across the region)
Residence halls and dining facilities remained open throughout the storm for students unable to travel home
NC State's Student Emergency Fund was mobilized to support students whose families were affected by Florence's record-breaking flooding
Hurricane Florence ultimately produced approximately 36 inches of rainfall in some North Carolina locations — the highest single-storm rainfall total ever recorded in the state
Outcome
NC State maintained Condition 2 (Suspended Operations) status from 5:00 PM EDT Wednesday, September 12 through 5:00 PM EDT Sunday, September 16 — a 96-hour suspension. All residence halls remained open for students unable to travel, and university dining facilities continued to operate. The September 15 football game against West Virginia was cancelled. The university's Student Emergency Fund mobilized to support students whose families were affected by flooding. Hurricane Florence ultimately produced approximately 36 inches of rain in some North Carolina locations, the highest single-storm rainfall total ever recorded for the state.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    NC State Will Cancel Operations Due to Hurricane Florence (247Sports)
    247sports.com
  2. News
    Universities cancel classes, sporting events ahead of Hurricane Florence (ABC11)
    abc11.com
  3. Official
    Responding to Hurricane Florence (NC State Giving News)
    news.giving.ncsu.edu
  4. Official
    Historical Hurricane Florence, September 12-15, 2018 (National Weather Service)
    weather.gov
  5. Source
    Hurricane Florence (Wikipedia)
    en.wikipedia.org
  6. Official
    Florence Revisited: Our Wettest Hurricane, Two Years Later (NC State Climate Office)
    climate.ncsu.edu
Tags
hurricaneflorencenorth-carolinapublic-r1wolfalertunc-systemsuspended-operationsweatherathletic-event-cancellation
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion