Initial Damage Assessment for Nicholls Athletics
THIBODAUX, La. ? Hurricane Gustav left behind a major mess, and Nicholls Athletics’ facilities were not spared from its wrath as the Colonels Softball Complex and Ray E. Didier Field suffered the most damage.
The Colonels Softball Complex sustained damage to its backstop, and also had its scoreboard in leftfield demolished to beyond repair. The outfield fence has also been blown over.
Ray E. Didier Field’s leftfield and centerfield fence no longer exists as winds from Hurricane Gustav have left only the structure that once held up the outfield wall.
“We think, but are not sure, that a small tornado might have touched down around the softball and baseball fields after surveying the amount of damage,” said Mike Davis, Assistant Vice President for Administration.
“The campus itself is not as bad as originally anticipated. However, we do have a lot of debris and mess to clean up. My hat really goes off to our grounds crew, maintenance staff and custodians who have showed up on a moments notice, and are really dedicated to getting Nicholls back up and running.”
John L. Guidry Stadium had minimal damage to the press box with strong winds ripping off the air conditioning unit on the roof. The lights may have received some structural damage; however, a structural engineer will have to determine whether the foundations of the poles have been compromised.
Barker Hall, the home of the majority of Nicholls Athletics offices, suffered minor damage, but appeared to be operational since the state police and all other first responders stationed in the area were using the football locker room showers. David R. Stopher Gym had been inspected, and the floors were not damaged and the roof appeared leak free.
Leonard J. Chabert Hall, which is home to all of Nicholls Athletics weight lifting equipment, received roof damage, and had some leaks.
“The integrity of all the buildings on campus are structurally sound and we have no catastrophic failures. If we had electricity, we could open our doors on Monday as projected,” said Davis.
Estimates from Entergy for Nicholls to have power restored range from a week to as long as six weeks. Thibodaux Regional Hospital and other hospitals in the area will have power restored first, with Nicholls and the surrounding residential area soon thereafter.
Sister schools in the Louisiana University Systems have lent a helping hand to Nicholls in this time of need. McNeese State and Northwestern State have sent members of their grounds crews to assist in the clean up efforts. Southeastern La. and McNeese State also sent members of their campus police departments to help in patrolling the campus.
Louisiana Tech is housing some 100-plus students and student-athletes who could not find a means of transportation from the university, and Louisiana-Lafayette has shipped supplies to the campus.
Louisiana-Monroe was prepared to house Nicholls’ Preposition Team that consists of Davis and 15 others, however, the team rode out the storm in the student union on campus.
“We have received tremendous aid from all of our sister schools and could not be this far along in the recovery process without them. It could be a lot worse, but our sister schools have really come through for us,” said Davis.
Nicholls University and Nicholls Athletics Department will make decisions in the upcoming week in regards to Nicholls home football game against Bowie State scheduled for September 13. All athletic events for the upcoming weekend have been postponed until further notice.
For updated information regarding Nicholls, tune to Nicholls homepage, www.nicholls.edu.