Tropical storm Hanna could hit Richmond Saturday

Tropical Storm Hanna is projected to hit the eastern part of Virginia Saturday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

In an e-mail sent Wednesday afternoon, the University of Richmond's Emergency Management Team urged students, faculty and staff to monitor weather forecasts.

Information from the weather service at 2 a.m. EDT Thursday, put Hanna about 325 miles east-southeast of Nassau, Bahamas, moving northwest at 13 mph and holding maximum sustained winds of 65 mph, just below hurricane-strength.

The latest forecast shows Hanna will reach the Virginia-North Carolina border sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning . The storm is predicted to weaken from a hurricane to a tropical storm by the time it reaches Virginia.

Hanna is expected to gradually strengthen during the next few days and could become a hurricane Thursday, according to the weather service. It's expected to turn northwest and increase in speed during the next 24 hours.

Storms are classified as hurricanes once their maximum winds reach 72 mph.

Emergency management officials at the university have been tracking the storm for three days and will continue to monitor the storm through the evening, said William Harding, the university's emergency preparedness planner. The emergency team is scheduled to meet Thursday afternoon to discuss the school's plans for the storm.

Tropical weather moving south to north that travels west of the university tends to dump more rain than systems that slide east of campus, Harding said.

But university officials are particularly concerned with the storm's slow movement in the Atlantic Ocean's warm waters, which gives the system time to gather moisture, increasing the possibly that it may strengthen into a hurricane.

"Our projection is that as the storm hits land, it'll speed up," Harding said. "But my main concern is that it's such a slow tracking storm."

The weather could affect the University of Virginia-Richmond football game, scheduled to begin at 3:45 p.m. Saturday at U.Va.

"We will either postpone, delay, reschedule or cancel [the game] as necessary, consistent with U.Va., Atlantic Coast Conference and NCAA policies," said Carol Wood, spokeswoman for U.Va. "The weather can change at any time. There will be more discussion tomorrow. We'll make an appropriate decision [about the game] later in the week.

"If it turns into being a rain event, most if not all of the athletic contests will be scheduled."

University officials will post updates on the school's emergency hotline at 289-8760 locally, toll-free from outside the area at 866-386-0403, and the university Web site. If necessary, they will also distribute emergency announcements via the UR Alert system.

The emergency team advises students to have flashlights and fresh batteries ready; obtain a battery-operated radio and listen to station WRVA-1140 AM for the latest information on a storm's progress; collect bottled water and non-perishable food; and fully charged cell phones, laptop computers and other electronics. Students living in apartments should bring patio furniture and other outdoor accessories inside so they don't blow into glass doors and windows.

The Collegian updated this story at 2:43 a.m. Thursday to include the latest information from the National Weather Service. We will update this story as more information becomes available.

Contact staff writer Dan Petty at dan.petty@richmond.edu