ECAC Offices Closed on Friday Due to Hurricane Earl

CAPE COD, Mass. – With Hurrican Earl making a path up the East Coast straight for Cape Cod and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick declaring a state of emergency, Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC^®) Commissioner Rudy Keeling announced that the conference office would be closed on Friday, September 3.

"This is a serious storm, but it's possible to prepare for it, we have prepared for it, and we're asking the public to prepare for it as well," said Patrick.

"Public safety is first," said Patrick. "We are doing everything possible to keep people safe."

“Looking at the track of the storm, and heeding the governor’s state of emergency, we want to make sure that we do all we can to keep our ECAC employees safe and off the roads and bridges during the storm,” said Commissioner Keeling.

The National Weather Service has issued a hurricane warning for the coast from Westport, through the Cape and Islands. 

During a news conference, the governor advised everyone to stay indoors with the windows and doors closed and enough water to last for a day, as well as other supplies. He also asked people to stay off the roads from Friday afternoon through Saturday morning.

Earl which was a Category 4 storm, has weakened to a Category 3 storm, but still has maximum sustained winds of 125 miles per hour. The storm is expected to still have winds of about 100 miles per hour as it passes the Cape, the National Hurricane Center predicted this morning.

The storm could potentially be the first hurricane to make landfall on the Cape since 1991, when Hurricane Bob unleashed its fury on August 19 of that year. During that storm, the ECAC lost 54 trees with damage to at least 40 other trees. It took until November of that year to complete the clean up from the devastation.

About the ECAC®
The ECAC is the nation’s largest athletic and the only multi-divisional conference with approximately 300 Divisions I, II, and III colleges and universities from Maine to North Carolina and westerly to Illinois. Established in 1938, the ECAC, a non-profit service organization, sponsors nearly 100 championships in 37 men’s and women’s sports, assigns more than 4,400 officials in 12 sports, administers nine affiliate sports organizations and six playing leagues and recognizes more than 2,000 student-athletes through the public relations arm of the conference. The ECAC serves as the primary conference for select members in the sports of men’s and women’s ice hockey, and men’s lacrosse.