UPDATE: FAU's Boca Raton campus closed at 2 p.m. Friday, the school announced.
This is the statement the school posted on its webpage:
To protect the safety of the FAU community, and to properly assess and address damage sustained from severe weather Thursday evening, FAU’s Boca Raton campus will close at 2 p.m. today for non-essential personnel. All classes scheduled to begin after 2 p.m. are cancelled. Faculty and staff who have meetings or other activities planned this afternoon should proceed only after careful consideration and approval of their supervisor.
All essential personnel are required to check with their supervisors before leaving campus.
The National Weather Service has forecast severe weather to continue to affect the area this evening and tomorrow. Some University facilities, particularly on the Boca Raton campus that received an estimated 3.5 inches of rainfall within a couple of hours, have sustained damage.
The #FAU Boca Raton campus will close at 2 p.m. today. Classes after this time are cancelled. More information here: https://t.co/TILpQiTlXE
— Florida Atlantic (@FloridaAtlantic) March 25, 2016
EARLIER:
Computer labs were closed for the night as Florida Atlantic University's library experienced flooding during strong storms.
"I walked down the breezeway and I was in high heels and it was up to my calves the whole thing was flooded, people couldn't get around, cars were stalling, it was like tow trucks everywhere," said Danielle Nevarez.
Storms swept through Boca Raton, blinding drivers and causing them to pull off I-95.
"Weather was nice and then all of a sudden I come into really bad weather on 95," said Michelle Garland who was driving down from Jacksonville to see her daughter in Boca Raton. "I thought maybe I could get through it, but I mean we can't get through this."
Garland had to pull over in a residential area on Southwest 3rd avenue. The street was completely underwater and cars were stuck at the end of it with their hazards on.
The storms also caused a mess for businesses in Boca.
"One of the servers came and got me and said there was a waterfall in the kitchen," said Megan DiGesare, assistant General Manager t Saquella Cafe in Boca Raton.
DiGesare says she had to bring the customers in during the tornado warning. Everyone was safe but there is significant damage.
