Francis Marion University, Florence

FMU will close on Friday at 12:30 p.m. in advance of Hurricane Irma, allowing students to evacuate prior to anticipated coastal evacuations Saturday.

All scheduled programs, activities and events are cancelled.

University officials made the decision in order to give Francis Marion students an opportunity to avoid traffic congestion arising from evacuees fleeing Florida and Georgia. FMU officials remain in constant contact with state and federal officials and will continue to provide updates as necessary.

Announcements regarding any safety precautions or further schedule changes made by the university will come through FMU’s regular communications channels, including the Swamp Fox Alert System, at the appropriate time.Coastal Carolina University, Conway

All CCU classes, events and activities are canceled beginning Thursday,  Sept. 7, at 8 p.m., according to the university’s website.

Residence halls will close on Friday at 9 a.m. Residential students will need to initiate their personal evacuation plans and the campus will be closed beginning Friday at 5 p.m.

The news comes after SC Governor Henry McMaster announced his intention to order an evacuation for South Carolina coastal counties Saturday, Sept. 9, at 10 a.m.

The CCU website says the CCU shuttle service will make runs to the airport on Thursday from 5 until 8 p.m. and on Friday from 6 a.m. until 5 p.m. and the CCU shuttle will provide transportation from the Student Union to the Amtrak train station on Friday at 9 a.m.

The University will notify the campus community when classes will be scheduled to resume and when residence halls will reopen, with a goal of at least 24 hours notice.

The HTC Center will close Thursday at 8 p.m. and will reopen when campus reopens.