Campus Alert Archive
NOBTS

The Levees Break and 60 Percent of NOBTS Campus Housing Floods After Katrina; 'Mandatory Evacuation Was Pretty Unusual'

LAnatural disasteradvisorymedium confidence

On and before August 29, 2005, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary ordered a mandatory campus evacuation ahead of Hurricane Katrina, scattering students across 29 states and faculty across 9 states. After the storm and the subsequent levee failures, 60 percent of campus housing was significantly damaged. A skeleton crew that had stayed to secure the campus was eventually forced to evacuate through flooded streets.

Alerts
2
Response
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Killed
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Injured
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Institution
New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
Private Masters · LA
NOBTS Campus Emergency Notification
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 reconstruction298 chars
NOBTS Mandatory Evacuation Order: Due to the approach of Hurricane Katrina, all residents and students are directed to evacuate the campus immediately. Please pack essential belongings. The campus will issue further instructions. Drive to safety and do not plan to return until it is safe to do so.

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

The mandatory evacuation order was described by student Arthur Grubbs as 'pretty unusual,' indicating NOBTS had not previously ordered mandatory evacuations; the severity of Katrina's track change prompted the unprecedented action.
Students evacuated expecting to return in days; the levee failures transformed a temporary displacement into a semester-long crisis that scattered the community across 38 states.
UPDATEEmail
Approximate reconstruction330 chars
NOBTS Emergency Update: Hurricane Katrina has caused catastrophic levee failures in New Orleans. The campus and surrounding Gentilly neighborhood are flooded. Campus buildings are inaccessible. Do not attempt to return to campus. Classes are suspended until further notice. Administration is meeting in Atlanta to plan next steps.

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

The Gentilly neighborhood where NOBTS is located experienced some of the worst flooding in the city after levee breaches; the campus was completely cut off from the city.
Within three days of the storm, key administrators, faculty, and staff convened at the North Georgia Extension Center in Decatur, Georgia to formulate a recovery and continuity plan.
Context

Background

New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, located in New Orleans's Gentilly neighborhood and founded in 1917, is one of the six seminaries of the Southern Baptist Convention. When Hurricane Katrina changed its track and bore down on New Orleans in late August 2005, NOBTS issued what students described as an unusually stringent mandatory evacuation order. Most faculty and students evacuated over the weekend before landfall, expecting to return within days. On August 29, Katrina's storm surge overwhelmed New Orleans's levee system. The campus and surrounding Gentilly community flooded, cutting off access entirely. A small crew that had stayed to secure the campus was eventually forced to evacuate through flooded streets past armed gangs, navigating by boat and improvised convoy. Baptist Press reported on the dramatic rescue effort. Sixty percent of campus housing received significant damage; Leavell Chapel sustained major roof damage. Students were scattered across 29 states; faculty across 9. Within three days, administrators convened at the North Georgia Extension Center to plan the semester's continuation online. Eighty-five percent of pre-Katrina students continued their studies online or at extension centers that fall.
Outcome
60% of campus housing significantly damaged; Leavell Chapel roof badly damaged. Students relocated online and to North Georgia extension; classes resumed in October 2005. No NOBTS community members died.
Provenance

Sources

  1. denominational media
    As floodwater rose at seminary, crew faced a mounting crisis - Baptist Press
    baptistpress.com
  2. denominational media
    KATRINA: A seminary's rise from the flood - Baptist Press
    baptistpress.com
  3. denominational media
    20 years post-Katrina, NOBTS stands strong - Baptist Press
    baptistpress.com
  4. reference
    New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary - Wikipedia
    en.wikipedia.org
Tags
natural-disasterhurricanehurricane-katrinaevacuationseminarysouthern-baptistnew-orleanslouisianafloodinglevee-failurecampus-closedhistoric
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion