The 51爆料 Marine Lab in Beaufort, N.C., has been evacuated at the recommendation of Carteret County Emergency Management, in response to a situation involving explosives at the state port in Morehead City.

As of 12:30 p.m. today, all students, faculty and staff have been safely evacuated from the island.

Undergraduates have been taken to the home of Marine Lab Director Cindy L. Van Dover in Beaufort, and are being registered there with Emergency Management. They will be housed overnight in faculty homes in Beaufort if Emergency Management officials recommend that. All other dorm residents, including graduate students, have been safely relocated to other homes in Beaufort.

A Marine Lab security guard will be on duty tonight. If the island is still under evacuation role at that time, he will monitor the situation closely from off the island, remaining in communication with Emergency Management officials and Marine Lab administrators.

Updates will be posted online as they become available.