(U-WIRE) BATON ROUGE, La. — Less than a week after a tropical storm made a lackluster showing in the Baton Rouge area, Louisianians are bracing for Isidore’s distant cousin — Hurricane Lili.

Lili plowed across western Cuba and into the Gulf of Mexico late Tuesday, moving northwest toward the Louisiana coast at about 15 miles per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center.

At press time, a hurricane watch was in effect from San Louis Pass, Texas, to the mouth of the Mississippi River. Forecasters expect the Category 2 storm, with sustained winds of 105 miles per hour, to strengthen before landfall some time Thursday.

LSU campus leaders met late Tuesday with state climatologist Jay Grymes to look at the storm’s track and projected path.

University spokesman Gene Sands said he and university officials would meet again early Wednesday to make a decision about canceling classes. He said students should check the LSU website beginning about 10 a.m. for information.

Rumors circulated among students Tuesday that if the university canceled classes for Hurricane Lili, it would cut the campus’s Fall Break. The mid-semester hiatus is scheduled for Oct. 10-13.

Sands said Interim Provost Laura Lindsay has discussed this issue, and officials are examining the possibility of cutting Fall Break.

“Certainly we are aware of students’ concerns [about Fall Break],” Sands said.

Meanwhile, LSU’s Hurricane Center is monitoring the storm closely.

“It’s a serious threat for Louisiana because it’s going to push a very significant storm surge [onto the coast], no matter where it makes landfall,” said Ivor van Heerden, the Hurricane Center’s deputy director.

Van Heerden’s biggest concern is the potential flooding of New Orleans with “catastrophic consequences.” If the storm becomes a Category 3 hurricane, as meteorologists predict, it would dump a significant amount of rain on the already soaked, below-sea-level Crescent City. The exact path of the storm remains vague.

“Until it gets clear of Cuba, it is going to be very hard to determine where it’s going to go,” van Heerden said.

If Lili makes landfall west of New Orleans, the Baton Rouge area could expect conditions similar to Hurricane Andrew, a Category 4 storm in 1992, van Heerden said.

Many Baton Rouge residents recall Andrew’s 60 to 70 mph winds, heavy rainfall and weeklong power outages.

“We kind of are expecting it is going to move a little to the east, which would suggest we could expect Andrew-like conditions,” van Heerden said.

The Hurricane Center is running storm surge models to forecast the intensity and location of serious storm surges — water that is pushed ashore by swirling hurricane winds.

However, many students say Isidore’s disappointing performance last week has left them jaded about Hurricane Lili.

“For some reason, I’m just not concerned,” said Ashley Jean-Batiste, a pre-med freshman.

Last week, after “hurricane-proofing” her first-floor dorm room in South Graham, Jean-Batiste ended up playing cards all night.

“We could have come to class last Thursday,” she said.

Jack Walker, a political science junior, and Marcus Colligan, a mass communication freshman, attended a hurricane party last Wednesday night in honor of Isidore. But they’re not sure what they will do for Lili.

Walker and Colligan are roommates in a house on South Highland Road. They said if Hurricane Lili hits hard enough, they might have to sandbag their house to keep water from coming in.

Mohammed Aleem, a biological sciences senior, said Lili’s potential to push high winds on the area is “pretty scary.”

“I want school to be out, but when it comes down to it, I want campus safety the most,” Aleem said.

Students not from Louisiana have a different perspective on the impending storm.

“My hometown is in southeast Texas, and they’re predicting it to hit anywhere from there to Louisiana,” said Pannal Aaron Sanders, a secondary education junior. “So it’s pretty much going to affect me either way.”

Last Thursday, Sanders stayed in his apartment at East Campus Apartments to wait out Isidore. As the senior resident assistant, he had hurricane-preparedness procedures to follow. For Hurricane Lili, Sanders is worried about how it could affect Homecoming festivities.

“School can be canceled, but the [football] game must go on,” he said.

Alicia Paladino, an architecture freshman from Little Rock, Ark., has never been in a hurricane before.

“If it actually hits, I guess I’ll just stay inside,” she said. Though she looks forward to more canceled classes, she speculates the university will stick it out.

As of Tuesday afternoon, officials hoped to continue as planned with Homecoming festivities.

“We are just taking it day by day right now,” said Katie Smith, adviser for the Homecoming committee. “As soon as we know something definite, we will do our best to let the people involved know about it.”

Dan Radakovich, senior associate athletics director, said it was too early to make a call about Saturday’s Homecoming game against University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

“We will let everybody know as soon as more facts come in,” he said. “We’re looking forward to playing that game.”