School nutrition and college dining operators prepare as Hurricane Laura barrels toward coast

As Category 4 Hurricane Laura makes its way towards Texas and Louisiana, operators throughout the two states are making changes to their meal service in preparation for the storm. 

In a blog post on its website, Houston Independent School District shared that it is no longer providing meal service this Thursday and Friday. The district is recommending that families take advantage of a mass food distribution event this upcoming Saturday at NRG Stadium where 80-pound bags of food and a week’s worth of meals for students will be handed out to each family. 

The 24-hour Cougar Woods Dining Commons at the nearby University of Houston will see reduced hours due to the hurricane. Now, students will only be able to pick up meals between 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. Students will also be able to grab food at two other retail locations on campus, but all other campus eateries will be closed until at least Thursday morning. 

The University of Louisiana at Lafayette is also reducing its operating hours and is closing some of its dining operations. While three dining locations on campus are open on Wednesday, its Cypress Dining Hall will be the only eatery on campus serving food on Thursday. The university says that it will continue to monitor conditions throughout the week and make operating adjustments as necessary.

Related:How noncommercial foodservice operations handled Hurricane Florence