<p>jbehlend, I’m so happy to hear that they’ve delayed it a day.</p>
<p>Oh my goodness, I can’t imagine moving into an NYU dorm in a bad storm, let alone a hurricane. I just don’t know where they would put everyone, unless they have some creative plan that didn’t exist when my D was there. There was a period of probably a minimum of an hour spent outside the dorm, on the sidewalk, when she moved in. Checking in, getting keys, etc. then unloading the car, piling stuff on the sidewalk, waiting for a rolling bin (if you wanted one, it was an even longer wait!), then lining up for the elevators, a line that snaked all through the interior hallways and out the door and down the sidewalk. Good luck on Monday!</p>
<p>We are on vacation on Cape Cod, dropping DS off at college outside of Boston on Sat. On Thurs morn, Jetblue allowed us to change our parent return flt to Denver from Sun night to Sat night - no extra charges (phew).</p>
<p>FWIW, Wellesley has just announced that they will open their dorms early for returning students and strongly urge them to come back on Friday, Saturday or Monday and avoid Sunday. It might be worth putting together a list of colleges that are altering plans and allowing students to move in earlier or later than planned due to the storm.</p>
<p>Dickinson moved the date for move-in for upperclassman a day earlier if students get to campus early (now can move in on Friday). Now if I can just get D1 a flight a day earlier (due to fly in via Phili very late on Saturday night). Unfortunately, US Air is waiving fees for Sunday & Monday, not Saturday, even though the Phili weather report for Saturday night says “possible tropical storm conditions”.</p>
<p>Luckily I move in on Tuesday . But as a proud Floridian, I feel like y’all need to be aware that a huge danger during hurricanes is the high winds. Usually where I am when people die during a hurricane it’s rarely water related (there are obvious exceptions of course) but it’s usually some guy who’s walking his dog in the hurricane and gets hit with flying debris. If there is any possible way to avoid moving in on Sunday I would, no matter the inconvenience. But it’s just such rotten luck!</p>
<p>We did this four years ago, moving my d. to her graduate apt. at Princeton. Her uncle was head of emergency planning at the fed’s GA, so he had access to the best forecasts. He told us to leave at 4 a.m. (with the U-Haul, and have everything in her room (a 6th-floor apt) by 11. And sure enough, at 11:30, the hurricane hit!</p>
<p>Wow, mini, what a great and accurate forecast!</p>
<p>Just checked Frontier Airlines’ website and they are waiving fees for changes to travel plans to specific destinations (specific conditions apply). D is looking online right now to see if she can arrive in Boston a little earlier.</p>
<p>We are on Frontier also…no other flights showing any earlier for us…noticed they are showing seats Sunday but no Monday for Philly…we are flying on Saturday. Guess we’ll hunker down at the Sheraton…</p>
<p>It would be nice if they could determine an exact track for Irene. I know it’s poor timing for so many of us but I just remembered how my friend emailed me about their escape from NOLA when they were dropping off their son at Tulane and we are all pretty lucky in comparison despite being inconvienanced and stressy right now.</p>
<p>Only option D found would require a 5 am flight. We’re 1.5 hours from the airport. She thinks she’ll stay with her 11:15 am departure for now. I guess we’ll be tracking the weather predictions tomorrow to see if 5 am sounds any more attractive.</p>
<p>Sunday was our original move-in day. Earlier this week, I had DD register for early move-in on Saturday ($50) so we could avoid the storm. However, at about 4:30 yesterday afternoon, University of Delaware just cancelled move-in weekend. Also cancelled the first day of classes (Tuesday). They are anticipating loss of power, damaging winds, etc. They want students to be at home (even those who came this week for other activities). DD’s been getting texts from school and we’ve been getting automated messages to our phones. UD has been good about keeping us up to date. No idea at this point when move in will be. Will have to wait to see how the area fares in the storm.</p>
<p>Meantime, here on LI’s South Shore, we are bracing for the worst.</p>
<p>If she is waiting for textbooks, tell her to go to the library on campus immediately and see if she can check out her textbooks until hers come. My D often does that when she gets to campus, and she says most students don’t think of it.</p>
<p>Regarding airlines and fee waivers, what is wrong with US Air?? The other major airlines (United, American, Continental) have waived fees to fly in and out of Philadelphia on Saturday. But US Air is only waiving the fee for Sunday and Monday. The weather forecasts are quite clear for Saturday evening (“tropical storm” is forecast), I can’t imagine D will be able to fly in. But US Air wants a $150 change fee to move her flight to Friday.</p>
<p>Oh, and their website to check flight status seems to be down. Grrr…</p>
<p>For anyone who is going to a hotel bring lots of strong flashlights. Don’t forget hotel rooms have little natural light and are extremely dark if the power goes out.</p>
<p>EmmyBet and others going into the NY area - they are saying all public transportation (subways, buses) will stop running sometime Saturday so EmmyBet, depending on where you are staying you may be walking to your matinee show. Also, no LIRR, MetroNorth, NJ Transit so plan appropriately.</p>
<p>Daughter doesn’t leave for school until September so that’s not a problem but she is in Summer Stock in the Berkshires and I’m certain they’re not going to cancel their last performance so the kids can get home safely on Saturday instead of Sunday. We’ll just have to keep watching the reports!</p>
<p>They’re talking about evacuating all of NYC. How is that possible, esp. when most people don’t have private transportation? Put everyone on trains to the Catskills??</p>
<p>Told S & DIL in Brooklyn to have in mind a land line they can use to stay in touch. Cell phone networks go down from overload even when the power is still on.</p>
<p>I need to stop checking the news…it’s making me anxious. So many friends/family on the East Coast…</p>
<p>How’s the college move-in going on the West Coast? :)</p>
<p>^^^mommusic: no, they are not talking about evacuating ALL of NYC-- just the particular low lying areas that would be more affected by storm surges.</p>
<p>Fordham Uni has also pushed move in day from Sunday to Monday. I had booked a hotel room in North Jersey for Saturday night and then had to cancel it. </p>
<p>At their Manhattan campus, they close off the whole block in front of the school for 4 hours, I’m sure that is much easier to do on a Sunday than a Monday. I wonder if they will still be able to do that.</p>
There was a period of probably a minimum of an hour spent outside the dorm, on the sidewalk, when she moved in. Checking in, getting keys, etc. then unloading the car, piling stuff on the sidewalk, waiting for a rolling bin (if you wanted one, it was an even longer wait!), then lining up for the elevators, a line that snaked all through the interior hallways and out the door and down the sidewalk. Good luck on Monday!</p>