Tulane, a private university in New Orleans, began evacuating students to Houston Tuesday.
The university's president, Michael A. Fitts, said Hurricane Ida caused "a range of damage" across the campus.
He also expressed concern about how long it could take to get power restored.
"Due to catastrophic transmission damage to the city power grid, all of Orleans Parish is currently without power," Fitts said. "Other pieces of critical infrastructure, including services associated with Sewerage & Water Board and the supply chain and critical labor for the region, may be impacted for several weeks."
Our students are starting to leave for Houston this morning. I cannot thank everyone enough for their support and dedication during this time. I am proud to be a Tulanian today and every day. pic.twitter.com/iqC6zPnM4D
— Mike Fitts (@TUFitts) August 31, 2021
Entergy reports that more than 800,000 customers are without power.
Students who decided to self-evacuate were required to be off the campus by 5 p.m. Tuesday.
The university said classes are canceled through Sept. 12. They will then resume online until Oct. 6, the school said.
Tulane was scheduled to host Oklahoma Saturday in their first football game of the 2021 season. However, the game was moved to Norman, Oklahoma.