The Blizzard of 2013, otherwise known as Nemo, plowed through the northeast from early Friday morning to mid-day Saturday afternoon. New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island governor’s all issued State of Emergency’s and President Obama declared Connecticut still in a State of Emergency as of earlier today. Mother nature dropped snow up to 38 inches in Milford, Connecticut, leaving people literally stranded in their homes while wind gusts of 80mph whipped through Cape Cod. In Rhode Island alone, over 200,000 power outages left residents in the dark. Snow plows were issued to get off the roads due to white out conditions and even the storm chasers themselves were eager to stay inside. So how was Bryant affected by all of this? What about other areas of the northeast?
Late Thursday evening, all Bryant students and staff received an email from President Machtley declaring a snow day for Friday and discussing the procedures to be taken during this storm. The front gates closed as guests were not allowed on campus and residents were issued to stay in their dorms as much as possible. The snow began, quickly piled up, and eventually became a scene out of a movie. It was evident, as the hours passed, to really see how quickly the snow was falling when the cars vanished underneath a blanket of white (pictured above) and snow covered the waterfall at the Interfaith center (pictured below). It was no surprise to get texts from friends at other Universities in Rhode Island with a “tonight is going to be cold” message informing each other they have lost power. Salve Regina, The University of Rhode Island, and Roger Williams University were all affected by a power outage, among others. Thankfully, the grid Bryant sits on was strong enough to wither the storm.
Saturday morning, Bryant’s campus woke up to a catastrophe of snowfall-just over 2 feet, but with the wind drift, well over 4 feet in some areas. The main doors to get into some of the dorm buildings flew open the previous night from wind and stayed open as the snow piled up inside. All that was left of cars were some of the side-view mirrors and a tail light here and there. The main driveway was plowed but still sat underneath about a foot of snow (picture below). The pond seemed to be level with the rest of campus, and dorms on the first floors of buildings couldn’t see outside. Opening up the front door to a townhouse was met with another wall of snow, and phones were going off as worried parents called to check in and Dean Eakin constantly sent off e-mails ensuring the safety of students and notifying of the procedures being taken to clear up the snow.
As Sunday drew, it was evident to see the steps taken from Bryant to try and get campus back on its feet. DPS and Residence Life were giving out shovels to help students shovel out their cars, Maitainance could be found in every corner snow blowing pathways, and outside crews were brought in with Bobcats to make a decent road for cars. The university did an excellent job at quickly removing the snow as 5:49pm rolled around when President Machtley sent out a campus-wide email announcing Bryant will resume to “normal” starting tomorrow morning…
“I am happy to report that our community and the campus have successfully weathered the Blizzard of 2013, due to the extraordinary efforts of many people within the Bryant family. We will resume classes and activities tomorrow morning according to regular schedules, and all administrative offices will be open…The storm has now passed, yet significant clean-up and digging out remain for students, staff, and faculty. We ask that everyone be very careful not to over exert and suffer personal injury lifting and moving the enormous snow that fell in the last several days, and to be particularly careful in navigating icy walkways and narrow streets. The campus parking lots are cleaned as well as possible, but high banks of snow remain so please be careful at the intersections and use extreme caution when turning. Many campus roads still have snow-covered surfaces, so please use prudent judgement and reduce your speed appropriately. There is rain in tomorrow’s forecast and this will produce icy and dangerous travel conditions that require extra care.
We ask a favor of the students: if you have already dug your vehicle out, please don’t drive up to the main lot to attend class on Monday as we have limited space available for staff and faculty due to the snow. The other advantage of not moving you car is that the space will still be there for you and not taken by another who did not shovel! Also, remember that candles are not permitted in residential spaces and use all caution not to ignite a fire in any unit.
If any staff or faculty are still without power, be reminded that we have showers available for your use in the Chace Center and can help with food or other means of assistance that can make you and your family better equipped to deal with a lack of heat, hot water, or electricity. Please let me, your supervisor, or others know of your needs.” –President Machtley
Bryant was among the lucky ones. Although snow is still covering the ground, pathways have been formed throughout campus. Roger Williams University is still without power and is urging students to go home. Milford streets are still left unplowed and the residents themselves are making their own paths to get places. Ashley, a resident of West Haven, CT states, “It’s a little cray cray today!! This was the walk to my parents house (picture below)… All side streets are bad everywhere. There are people walking down the middle of Rt. 80…. A little nuts!” Nemo definitely left it’s mark through New England-with Hamden, CT reporting the highest total snowfall (40 inches) and Cape Cod reporting the highest wind gusts, Bryant was right in the middle. Although the wind could be heard ripping through the dorm buildings and the cars dissappeared under the snow, Bryant is quickly cleaning up the snow as best as they can. No students were reported injured and classes are still on for tomorrow morning. This will definitely be a blizzard to remember.