{
  "id": "2017-09-06-usf-hurricane-irma",
  "slug": "usf-hurricane-irma-2017-09-06",
  "institution": {
    "name": "University of South Florida",
    "shortName": "USF",
    "state": "FL",
    "type": "public-r1",
    "alertSystemName": "MoBull Messenger",
    "enrollment": 50500
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2017-09-06",
    "endDate": "2017-09-13",
    "type": "hurricane",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "resolution": "confirmed-threat",
    "headline": "Three-campus system closes six days as a hurricane's track shifts toward the coast",
    "headlinePublic": "Three-campus system closes six days as a hurricane's track shifts toward the coast",
    "summary": "On Wednesday, September 6, 2017, the [University of South Florida System](https://cloud.usf.edu/usf-news-archive/News/article/8034) announced that all three USF campuses — Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Sarasota-Manatee, would close beginning Thursday, September 7 through Sunday, September 10 to allow preparation time for [Hurricane Irma](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Irma). The system [extended its closure through Tuesday, September 12](https://patch.com/florida/southtampa/usf-sets-hurricane-irma-plans) as Irma's track shifted west, putting Tampa Bay under direct threat. Tampa and St. Petersburg reopened Wednesday, September 13; Sarasota-Manatee remained closed until Monday, September 18. Despite forecast catastrophic storm surge for Tampa Bay, the area was spared the worst when Irma passed through as a weakened Category 2."
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestamp": "2017-09-06T14:00:00-04:00",
      "timestampApprox": "Wednesday afternoon September 6, 2017 EDT — initial closure announcement",
      "channel": "email",
      "verbatimText": "",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceUrl": "https://cloud.usf.edu/usf-news-archive/News/article/8034",
      "sourceDescription": "USF News archive — Hurricane Irma System updates (Sept. 6, 2017 closure notice)",
      "annotations": []
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "update",
      "timestamp": "2017-09-09T17:00:00-04:00",
      "timestampApprox": "Late afternoon Saturday September 9, 2017 EDT — extension as Irma track shifted west",
      "channel": "email",
      "verbatimText": "Dear USF System students, faculty and staff –\n\nThe USF System will remain closed through Tuesday, September 12.\n\nAs Hurricane Irma approaches Florida, the storm’s projected path and magnitude is becoming more clear. It’s very important that all our students, faculty, and staff remain safe.\n\nOnly USF System employees who are classified as essential personnel and those identified by their supervisors as vital to campus operations should report to work on Tuesday.\n\nWe anticipate inspection of over 350 buildings across our campuses by damage assessment teams once conditions are safe. Based on these inspections, if it is determined that additional closures are needed beyond Tuesday, updates will be posted on the university’s website, official social media channels, MyUSF and shared through email.\n\nAll USF System students, faculty, and staff are urged to plan carefully, follow local weather reports, stay informed through updates from county and state emergency management officials and take all precautions necessary to remain safe.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://cloud.usf.edu/usf-news-archive/News/article/8034",
      "sourceDescription": "USF News archive — Hurricane Irma System updates (Sept. 9, 2017 extended closure)",
      "annotations": [
        "Verbatim recovery from https://cloud.usf.edu/usf-news-archive/News/article/8034 on 2026-07-18.",
        "The September 9 westward track shift moved Irma's projected path directly over Tampa Bay, a worst-case scenario USF emergency planning had long anticipated",
        "Residence-hall shelter-in-place begins 8:00 PM Saturday September 9, six hours before tropical-storm-force winds were expected to reach Tampa",
        "USF Health and Tampa General Hospital remained open as a regional Level-I trauma referral hub"
      ],
      "characterCount": 1040
    },
    {
      "sequence": 3,
      "type": "update",
      "timestamp": "2017-09-12T16:00:00-04:00",
      "timestampApprox": "Late afternoon Tuesday September 12, 2017 EDT — Tampa and St. Petersburg reopening announcement",
      "channel": "email",
      "verbatimText": "Dear USF System Students, Faculty and Staff,\n\nAs always, we remain very focused on the safety of the entire USF community. We are very proud and grateful that our students, faculty and staff have gone to great lengths to ensure their own safety as well as that of each other and their families. It’s just the USF way.\n\nNow that Hurricane Irma has passed through the Tampa Bay area, our teams are completing a comprehensive assessment of each USF System campus to identify any unsafe areas, and confirm that our facilities did not suffer any major structural damage.\n\nAs a result, we’ve established an updated timeline for returning to normal business operations.\n\nProvided you can safely return to campus, USF Tampa and USF St. Petersburg will resume classes on Thursday, September 14. USF Tampa and USF St. Petersburg faculty and staff should report to work as scheduled on Wednesday, September 13.\n\nUnfortunately, USF Sarasota-Manatee remains without power and a reopening time is still to be determined. As soon as power is restored, USF Sarasota-Manatee students, faculty and staff will be updated regarding plans to reopen.\n\nPlease be assured, students will not be considered absent this week when classes resume if they are still returning from evacuating or dealing with impacts from Hurricane Irma. To be clear, no student assignments will be due and no quizzes or exams will be administered before next week. Students who are unable to return for classes on Thursday because of a storm-related hardship should notify their instructors as soon as possible. Employees unable to return to work because of a storm-related hardship should notify their supervisor as soon as possible. Faculty members and supervisors are asked to be patient and understanding with their students and staff during these unique circumstances.\n\nAt USF Tampa, the Marshall Student Center, USF Library, Campus Recreation Center, Student Health Services and the Counseling Center will reopen at 8 a.m. on Wednesday. USF St. Petersburg residence halls that were evacuated during the storm will reopen at 8 a.m. on Wednesday. USFSP students can contact Dean of Students Jacob Diaz with any questions at (727) 873-4826 or jacobdiaz@mail.usf.edu.\n\nAll USF Health clinics will reopen on Wednesday. Clinical staff will receive additional guidance in a separate communication.\n\nWe have established two toll-free phone numbers for anyone with questions about the reopening schedule:\n\nUSF System students or parents can call 1-855-382-5049.\n\nUSF System faculty or staff can call 1-855-456-0649.\n\nBoth phone numbers will be staffed from 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. beginning on Tuesday.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://cloud.usf.edu/usf-news-archive/News/article/8034",
      "sourceDescription": "USF News archive — Hurricane Irma System updates (Sept. 11, 2017 reopening timeline)",
      "annotations": [
        "Verbatim recovery from https://cloud.usf.edu/usf-news-archive/News/article/8034 on 2026-07-18.",
        "Tampa and St. Petersburg returned to business Wednesday September 13 with classes Thursday September 14, a one-day gap between business reopening and class resumption that is the USF hurricane standard",
        "USF Sarasota-Manatee's separate September 18 reopening reflects that Sarasota County experienced more direct hurricane impact than Hillsborough or Pinellas counties",
        "'Damage to USF campuses was minimal', the universally repeated phrase across USF emergency-management Irma communications; Irma had weakened to Category 2 by the time it passed through Tampa Bay"
      ],
      "characterCount": 2644
    }
  ],
  "context": "The University of South Florida System is a public R1 research university system with three institutions: [USF Tampa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_South_Florida), USF St. Petersburg, and USF Sarasota-Manatee. The MoBull Messenger emergency notification system (named for the USF bull mascot) delivers SMS, email, and voice messages to enrolled students, registered employees, and registered family members. [Hurricane Irma](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Irma) was a Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that made first U.S. landfall in the Florida Keys as Category 4 at 9:10 AM EDT on September 10, 2017 and second landfall at Marco Island as Category 3 the same afternoon. As the storm tracked north along Florida's west coast (through Tampa Bay overnight September 10 into Monday September 11) it had weakened to a Category 2 with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph. USF's [initial closure announcement](https://cloud.usf.edu/usf-news-archive/News/article/8034) on Wednesday, September 6 (issued one day ahead of Governor Scott's statewide directive) was followed by an extension through Tuesday, September 12 as the track shifted west and put Tampa Bay under direct hurricane threat. The Tampa Bay region had not received a direct hurricane strike since 1921; emergency-management planning had long anticipated this scenario as a worst case for the area. In the event, Irma had weakened sufficiently and tracked far enough inland that storm surge and wind damage were significantly less than predicted. USF Tampa and USF St. Petersburg [resumed business Wednesday September 13 with classes Thursday September 14](https://www.usf.edu/ucm/usf-news/hurricane-irma-faq.aspx). USF Sarasota-Manatee (closer to the eventual storm track) did not resume until Monday, September 18. The USF Health Tampa General Hospital remained operational throughout as a regional trauma referral hub. The Irma response established the MoBull Messenger template later used for [Hurricane Ian in 2022](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Ian), Hurricane Helene in 2024, and Hurricane Milton in 2024.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "USF System (Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota-Manatee) closed Thursday September 7 through Tuesday September 12, 2017",
    "USF Tampa and USF St. Petersburg resumed business Wednesday September 13, classes Thursday September 14",
    "USF Sarasota-Manatee (closer to the eventual storm track) remained closed until Monday September 18",
    "USF announced its closure on Wednesday September 6, one day ahead of Governor Scott's statewide gubernatorial directive",
    "Tampa Bay had not received a direct hurricane strike since 1921; emergency-management planning had long anticipated Irma as a worst-case scenario for the area",
    "By the time Irma passed through Tampa Bay it had weakened to a Category 2, damage to USF campuses was characterized as minimal",
    "The Irma response established the MoBull Messenger template later used for Hurricane Ian (2022), Helene (2024), and Milton (2024)"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "USF News | University of South Florida (Hurricane Irma)",
      "url": "https://cloud.usf.edu/usf-news-archive/News/article/8034",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "Returning After Hurricane Irma FAQ | University of South Florida",
      "url": "https://www.usf.edu/ucm/usf-news/hurricane-irma-faq.aspx",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "USF Extends Hurricane Irma Closure (Patch)",
      "url": "https://patch.com/florida/southtampa/usf-sets-hurricane-irma-plans",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Hurricane Irma: Updates (USF Health News)",
      "url": "https://hscweb3.hsc.usf.edu/blog/2017/09/05/storm-watch-updates/",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "Hurricane (USF Emergency Management)",
      "url": "https://www.usf.edu/administrative-services/emergency-management/hazards/hurricane.aspx",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "Hurricane Irma (Wikipedia)",
      "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Irma",
      "type": "encyclopedia"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "high",
  "tags": [
    "hurricane",
    "hurricane-irma",
    "campus-closure",
    "florida",
    "tampa-bay",
    "mobull-messenger",
    "2017-hurricane-season",
    "public-r1",
    "multi-campus-system",
    "sarasota-manatee",
    "st-petersburg"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-05-14",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-20",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}