After a night of wind and rain Vice President and University Secretary Linda Lorimer sent the following update for the Yale community, explaining there were no “serious problems” on or around campus.

Read her full email:

I just wanted to signal that there were no serious problems last night on or around campus:

Yale Facilities reported only scattered debris and no basement water issues more severe than “regular” storms. However with up to six hours or more of rain ahead, basements may become a problem. (If students on campus see any facilities issues, please call the Facilities Hotline at 432- 6888.) Scattered trees are down (outside Battell, 221 Whitney, and at the Divinity School) but none is blocking a road or passage.

The 5:15 am report from the New Haven City Emergency Center indicated that in the City of New Haven 7 power lines are down; 13 flood prone streets are closed due to rain, (not due to the storm surge) and winds were at 45 mph at 3 am. The City expects more trees, limbs and power lines to start coming down in the next few hours. We in New Haven, so far, are getting less rain (about 3 inches) than Fairfield County and the region north into Litchfield. The heaviest rain is expected through 2 pm.

Power outages vary in townships where Yale faculty and staff live: 46% of Guilford is without power and 65% of Madison. 6710 residents in Milford are without power, and 826 in Woodbridge. The most recent report indicates 2,086 New Haven households are without power. These numbers are expected to increase. Given these power outages, I know that increasing numbers of individuals will not have access to these e-mail messages and thus we plan to send a Yale Alert in late afternoon with a summary report of the day’s developments.

The 5:15 am report from the State of Connecticut Emergency Center is that the hurricane will make landfall in the Stamford area around 11 am and that “hurricane force wind gusts may arrive along the coast by 9 am.” The State also reports that “After the passage of Irene, a second period of strong winds is likely this afternoon and early evening, with wind gusts to 65 mph at times.”

Update: 10:03 a.m.

Lorimer sent a follow-up at 9:56 a.m. writing that Irene has been downgraded to a Tropical Storm, but there are still problems. In New Haven, 13,400 residents have lost power, and there are hazardous situation: a live power line is down in Parking Lot 51 next to the Music School and a tree “hangs” on a power line next to Yale Human Resources at 221 Whitney Avenue.