She was discussed in great detail and people feared her. Whether we liked it or not, she was coming with great force. Hurricane Irene was bound to hit the Northeast, a region that has otherwise escaped tremendous hurricanes for years. The then- category two hurricane’s clouds were looming.
I was at TCNJ when Irene arrived because I moved in early for CUB. I moved in on Wednesday and Irene was going to hit on Saturday. The College and nearby residents were taking precautions days leading up to the hurricane.
At the supermarket Friday evening, much like in food marts throughout the state and region, nonperishable food items were at a minimum. The bread aisle was completely wiped out and water gallons were few and far between.
Eickhoff was to be closed on Sunday. Therefore, on Saturday night, all the volunteers were directed to TDubbs for dinner. We were given two bagged meals- breakfast and dinner for Sunday. The freshmen picked up their rations in Eickhoff during Saturday dinner.
The STUD closed early on Saturday in preparation for the storm. There was fear of damage to the STUD’s glass
ceiling. The windows of the STUD and the TW link were also boarded up.
Nevertheless, Welcome Week events still occurred Saturday evening. The hypnotist traveled down to Ewing and the Latenighter, that was supposed to take place in the STUD, was separated out and occurred in the lounges of Cromwell and the Towers. Volunteers helping out with Saturday evening events had to either stay in the building that they were presently in or call campus police to escort them to their residence halls. Some tried to brave the storm on their own, but didn’t get too far.
Everyone on campus was strongly advised to stay indoors. CUB members moved to the apartments as not to leave anyone alone in their respective residence halls. We had ample junk food and bagged meals, except our food supply dwindled extraordinarily due to the amount of hungry guests.
The events for Sunday- Café Under the Stars and the Dive-In Movie- were postponed until further notice.
Luckily, the next day, from what I could see, there was little damage to the campus. The basements of certain buildings were flooded, but nothing too drastic happened. I noticed a few smaller tree limbs were down. The lakes were a disgusting mud-brown color.
The STUD opened up later in the day. We showed movies that were supposed to be for the Dive-In Movie in the STUD at night.
Ewing didn’t get hit too hard, but I know various places in New Jersey had major flooding problems and damages, such as my hometown. There were power outages throughout the state, but none that I personally had to endure.
Irene was an interesting start to the school year. It was a scary time leading up to the storm. I wish luck to people throughout the Northeast who still have to deal with Irene’s aftermath.