Nicholls State University Residence halls are prepared for the 2014 hurricane season.
“I think the campus is very prepared,” Hayward Guenard, director of housing, said. Each year the campus reviews its emergency plan and makes any updates that are needed. Even during years that have few or no hurricanes, the plan is evaluated to make sure it meets the needs of students.

“Last year we didn’t have a major storm, but we still reviewed and updated the plan based on other factors. Our staff is trained on what to do at different stages,” Guenard said.

One of the ways the university tests this plan is by conducting a table top exercise. This type of exercise is used by various government agencies and is backed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as an accurate way to test emergency plans. FEMA defines a table top exercise as “exercises that are designed to help an organization test a hypothetical situation, such as a natural or man-made disaster, and evaluate the group’s ability to cooperate and work together, as well as test their readiness to respond.”

The Thibodaux area is more likely to be affected by hurricanes due to its close proximity to the Gulf of Mexico. Since 2008, Louisiana has been impacted by seven tropical depressions.
According to the National Weather Service, hurricanes are most likely to impact the state of Louisiana during the months of August and September. Statistically speaking, it is estimating that a tropical depression should impact southern Louisiana before the end of 2015.

The last hurricane to impact the region was Hurricane Isaac on August 29, 2012. This hurricane caused a surge of flooding in impacted areas and was responsible for the death of five people. The last time the Emergency Preparedness Plan was put into use was during this storm.

“Based on Hurricane Isaac, our resident staff did a great job making sure residential students needs were addressed,” Guenard stated.

Students were evacuated and those who chose to stay on campus where housed in the Bollinger Student Union which is used as a shelter. An emergency generator kept the union from completely losing power.

“When the electricity went out you wouldn’t even realize it because the emergency generator would kick in,” Guenard explained.

Being prepared for emergency situations is also a factor when making on campus renovations.
“After Hurricane Katrina, they redid the dining halls and the ovens were switched to gas so they can cook and prepare meals even without electricity,” Guenard said.

The Nicholls State University Emergency Plan and its execution is the responsibility of the University’s Emergency Preparedness Committee. This committee developed a standby alert and five phases that inform students, faculty and staff what actions they should take when there is the possibility of a tropical depression. This plan along with hurricane safety tips can be found at http://emergency.nicholls.edu/.

Guenard expressed his confidence in the plan saying, “Everything is based on what we have learned historically that works the best.”