Record snowfall blindsides VT

Author: Zamir Ahmed

A Valentine's Day blizzard that paralyzed states from the Midwest to Northeast forced the College to officially close down on Feb. 15, canceling classes and instructing all non-essential staff to stay home. The cancellation of classes marked the College's first forced closure since January 1998, when a massive ice storm struck New England.

Last week's storm, which began around 2 a.m. Wednesday morning, led some percipient professors to cancel classes early on at their discretion. By late afternoon, faculty and staff across campus were shutting down facilities and leaving to escape the snowfall before being snowed in. A midday all-campus e-mail from President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz encouraged supervisors to send home those staff not providing essential services.

The College was initially scheduled to open late at 10 a.m. on Thursday, canceling early morning classes, but continued heavy snowfall and massive snowdrifts created by high winds prevented snow removal crews from adequately clearing roads and pathways. Shortly after midnight, Liebowitz announced in another e-mail that the College would be closed for business on Feb. 15.

"My decision to take such action came after much discussion with folks on the ground - staff managers - who had to assess whether they could make the campus safe for faculty, staff and students who had to drive, park and walk on campus," wrote Liebowitz in an e-mail explaining his decision. "As late as midnight I was told that would not be possible, and therefore [made the] decision."

Despite the College not officially opening for business, all three dining halls opened for students on Feb. 15. The dining halls were able to operate normally after eight dining services staff members spent the night sleeping on couches in the dining halls.

The blizzard dumped a near-record amount of snow on the state after what had been an unusually mild winter season. Twenty-five inches of snow fell at Burlington International Airport, the second-highest snowfall ever recorded there, while some areas of Vermont reported over three feet of snow, according to CNN.

The Snow Bowl received over 30 inches of snow from the storm, allowing the ski area to open all its front side trails for the first time this season. The back side of the Snow Bowl also received enough snow to open for the first time this year, letting skiers down its wooded trails starting on Feb. 17.

"We certainly saw an influx of students on Thursday," said Peter Mackey, manager of the Snow Bowl. "It took three buses to get everyone back to town, if that's any indication. This past weekend was one of the busiest in many, many years. There was obviously some pent-up demand."

The deep snowfall and high winds created a number of safety hazards for local residents. The Middlebury Fire Department received multiple calls during the night to local apartment buildings as snowdrifts blocked vent heaters, filling buildings with carbon monoxide and causing residents to be sent to areas hospitals for treatment.

Blowing snow and snow-packed roads also created a problem for local residents. Some parking lots and roads around campus were impassable, with high drifts snowing in parked cars, while other cars on the road became stuck due to the heavy snowfall. Emergency vehicles were not immune to the problem, as a number of vehicles skidded off roads or became stuck on unplowed roads.

While the College has general emergency plans in place to deal with crisis situations such as snowstorms, the magnitude of the Valentine's Day blizzard presented problems that the plans did not adequately cover.

"The size of the storm, and the impact of what was the largest single 24-hour amount of snow to fall on central Vermont, revealed holes in our planning and assumptions," said Liebowitz. "That said, our staff did remarkable work to ensure both safety and services that were essential for students."

According to Liebowitz, the College plans on using the problems presented by the Feb. 14 blizzard to work on fixing holes in the emergency procedures to better combat future storms.

"We will debrief in full, collect examples of what worked and did not work and ensure, even if we are talking about 'Storms of the Century,' we will be better prepared in the future," said Liebowitz. "One cannot always anticipate what will come, but we could certainly be better prepared to help our staff deal with the challenges."

The College reopened on Feb. 16. This month's Board of Trustees meeting took place as planned on Feb. 16-18, with trustees arriving on campus on Friday morning.