Bridgewater, Va.- As Hurricane Florence moved up the coast this week, she brought concern and destruction with her. Florence began to worry much of the East Coast as news outlets began to report that she was going to make definite landfall by the end of the week of Sept. 13.

As the storm escalated from a category three to a category four hurricane, the governors of N.C., S.C., Va. and Md. declared a state of emergency. Mandatory evacuations were quickly set into place in multiple counties.

The East Coast braced for Florence’s impact as the storm escalated to a category four on Monday, Sept. 10. Bridgewater College decided to end the week’s classes early. On Tuesday, Sept. 11, the college sent out an email notifying students that classes would not be held after Wednesday, Sept. 13.

The college told students that they were welcome to leave the campus, but strongly encouraged them to check with their families first. The college regularly kept communication with the students through email about what would be going on, and how to prepare if Florence was to severely impact Bridgewater.

Quickly, residential students began to contact their families and arrange plans to either leave or stay on campus. The college highly encouraged students to go home, as a safety precaution. Students that chose to remain on campus through the storm were required to notify the college.

Bridgewater also rescheduled all convocations and outdoor athletic events for the rest of the week due to the expected conditions of the storm, and to respects students’ wishes to travel home. The dining hall also adjusted its hours to accommodate the storm, and allow residential students to still have meals.

Residents of Bridgewater and Harrisonburg quickly prepared for the arrival of Florence. Local grocery stores began to sell out of bottled drinking water at a rapid pace as people began stocking up for the storm.

Interstate 81 became extremely busy and crowded as residents of the Carolinas and south-eastern Va. evacuated their homes.

James Madison University rescheduled their football game against Robert Morris for Thursday, Sept. 13 in preparation for Florence.

According to CNN, Florence first made landfall as a category one storm in N.C. on Friday, Sept. 14, slowly moving its way into S.C. According to NBC News, at the time of this writing, Florence is believed to have claimed 41 lives–and more may be added in the clean up process.

At the time of this writing, CNN stated the N.C. Emergency Agency reported 788,916 homes and businesses were without power due to the hurricane.

Bridgewater did not receive any serious impact from Hurricane Florence, other than occasional rainfall and cloudy overcasts Saturday, Sept. 15.

The college resumed its normal schedule, holding classes as usual, on Monday, Sept. 17.