YNN.com

The following message was issued to campus this morning.

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff:

This morning all of us on campus and in Syracuse are grateful that we seem to have avoided any major impact from Hurricane Sandy. The storm, whose path was forecast yesterday to head directly through our region, changed course late in the day and headed farther south and west, sparing us from the rain and high winds predicted by the National Weather Service. While there will likely be some additional rain and wind today, SU will resume classes and full operations on Wednesday.

Our thoughts now turn to the family and friends of our campus community who have been impacted by Hurricane Sandy in the Washington, D.C. metro area, the New York City metro area, New Jersey, Connecticut, New England, Pennsylvania and other parts of the country.
Having family and friends in harm’s way is difficult, and we all cope with stress differently. There are a number of resources available today should students, faculty or staff need support or assistance. This includes the Counseling Center (443-4715), Hendricks Chapel (443-2901), and the Faculty and Staff Assistance Program (443-1087).

In addition, we are asking our faculty to provide flexibility to students who may have difficulty traveling back to campus or to those who have extraordinary family needs/situations resulting from the storm’s impact elsewhere.

We are deeply concerned for the families of our students, faculty, staff and alumni who reside in the hardest hit areas, and we wish them safety and the best for a quick recovery.

Sincerely,
Chancellor Nancy Cantor

Director of Emergency Services Brian P. Dahl reports that the Cayuga County Legislative Chairman Steve Cuddeback has rescinded the State of Emergency for Cayuga County.

Per the Sheriff's Office all travel is back to normal.

Delaware County remains under a travel advisory until further notice. Travel only when necessary. If you must travel use caution as crews may be out continuing to work clearing roads and repairing down lines.

Also beware of debris, trees and downed lines as wind is continued. Do not attempt to drive through or touch downed power lines. Do not drive through water, stay out of flooded basements. Remember, generators can be dangerous. Do not attempt to cut trees where power lines are down.

The following roads or sections of roads are reported as closed:
Ben Meeker Road, Searles Road and Swart Road in the Town of
Middletown are all closed due to trees and/or power lines down
New York State Route 30 from Cat Hollow Road to Holiday Brook Road.
New York State Route 97 from Newman Road to the Sullivan County
line.

Once trees and power lines are removed from these roads, they will be
reopened.

NYSEG customers without power has risen slightly to 1,800. Crews remain out and will continue to work to restore power.

County offices are closed from 7AM to 5PM, but County Courts are open. The EOC remains open at this time but staffing has been cut back to a minimum.

Wegmans Food Markets reported at 8 a.m. that they were able to open all 81 of the company’s stores in the six states where they do business, all of which were affected to some degree by Hurricane Sandy. Wegmans’ stores are located in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, and Massachusetts.

“We recognize that we provide an essential service, and not just food, but prescription and over–the-counter drugs. Most of our stores have not been affected by power outages, but several were. We have been planning for days by testing our generators, bringing in additional generators where necessary, and securing an adequate fuel supply,” says Jo Natale, Wegmans director of media relations.

Wegmans’ newest stores have pad-mounted generators that are able to keep stores operational and maintain refrigeration temperatures to keep food safe. The company also deployed its truck-mounted generators, and leased additional generators. “Many of the generators have yet to be used, but we needed to be ready not only in our stores, but in our distribution facilities and bakeshop.”

Natale added, “In terms of products, our merchants have worked closely with suppliers so that we could have a steady supply of the most in-demand products, like water, milk, eggs, bread, batteries and other essentials.”

Some deliveries to Wegmans’ stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, and Maryland were delayed because of road closures. “We hope to resume a full schedule of deliveries as soon as it’s safe for our drivers to move.”

In areas most seriously affected by the storm (New Jersey and Pennsylvania, in particular) for the safety of its employees, Wegmans closed stores early Monday evening, but reopened this morning.

Wegmans will now work with its stores to assess community needs to see how they can help.