The newly renovated but still 100 year-old Monroe Hall came through Virginia’s August 23 magnitude 5.8 earthquake extremely well (elsewhere, there are cracks in the plaster walls of Virginia Hall, the stairwells in Combs Hall, and parts of GW Hall; serious – but not enough to close those buildings). Faculty in the building did a double-take, but then kept on working – till campus police threw us out an hour later! Belmont, Gari Melchers’ Home & Studio in Falmouth, suffered damage to its chimney as did a lot of old buildings. Alumnus Ian Pope (2011) sent the following images:

Ian Pope, Purdue Department of Earth and Atmospheric Science

Thanks to Ian Pope, Purdue Department of Earth and Atmospheric Science

On Thursday (8/25/11), Fredericksburg experienced a severe thunderstorm. The UMW Weather Station (http://umwva.alerteagle.com/) reported maximum wind gusts of 57 mph, at 4.39 pm. Wind and rain lashed campus, there was plenty of lightning, and power was lost. All this occurred during Honor Convocation in the new Anderson Center – where faculty were stranded in full regalia, initially in Goolrick Gym, in the dark! Damage on campus was serious, in terms of trees and tree limbs, with lampposts as collateral. Downtown, the Virginia Deli lost its roof and has been condemned (look at local news coverage here).

On Saturday (8/27/11), Hurricane Irene rolled up the east coast – classes for Monday were canceled so that move-in didn’t have to occur in the wind and rain, but no serious damage has been reported. The UMW Weather Station recorded 3.88 inches of rain on Saturday!

So: classes start Tuesday, hopefully all the students will arrive safely before that date, and the rest of the semester will be uneventful in terms of natural disasters!