The University of North Florida announced Tuesday afternoon that campus dining facilities will be completely closed on Wednesday and bagged food is being made available for students living on campus today.

Shuttle services will be canceled on Wednesday but will run a modified route from housing to dining and Publix until 4 p.m. today, the university told Spinnaker.

Hurricane Idalia is forecast to make landfall Wednesday morning. Life-threatening storm surge and hurricane conditions are expected along portions of Florida’s Gulf Coast, the National Hurricane Center in Miami warned during their 2 p.m. advisory on Tuesday. Idalia continues to strengthen with maximum sustained winds increasing to near 90 mph, according to NOAA satellites.

Though the exact impacts remain unknown, NOAA warns of potential tornadoes along the west-central Florida coast through Tuesday night. The tornado threat will also spread northward into the Florida Big Bend tonight, and further toward southeast Georgia and the coastal Carolinas on Wednesday.

“Ensuring the safety of the UNF community continues to be the University’s top priority,” UNF wrote in their Tuesday afternoon alert. “Residential students should be mindful of their personal safety and are advised to avoid any outdoor activity tomorrow.”

Further information will be communicated directly to residential students over email, the university said. Read the alert in full here.

The university expects to return to normal operations on Thursday, but is continuing to monitor Idalia. UNF will update the campus community on Wednesday with any updates or changes, they said. For more information about Hurricane Idalia, visit here.

Stay with Spinnaker as we bring continued updates about the storm and its impacts on Jacksonville and UNF. 

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