This Spring, we experienced a crazy winter storm that had school shut down for a full week! Starting on Valentine’s day, we got sleet followed directly by 4-6 inches of snow that piled up around campus, accompanied with a freeze. The temperatures were at a record low for the DFW area, reaching into the negatives and staying below freezing for nearly a week. In fact, the weather channels said this was the first wind chill warning ever issued in North Texas.

The weather was crazy for the whole North Texas area, causing rolling blackouts, busted pipes, and unusually dangerous road conditions. For the SAGU campus, we were in for a wild ride. Early Monday morning, the power went out on the whole South side of campus. Guynes, Collins, and Savell were all completely out of power, leaving half of the campus without heating or hot water. That morning, students showered at the Wellness centered and holed up in Shaeffer center for warmth and electrical outlets on a first-come-first-served basis. At the end of the day, students were moved from the dorms into Teeter, Bridges, and Regents to stay until power was returned. Talk about a full house!

Accomodations were made for students to continue living a semi-normal life. The Caf still opened to serve food, though the hours were condensed a lot for worker safety in traveling to and from home. Shaeffer was open longer hours for people to stay in the warmth.

Everything seemed pretty well figured out, but that wasn't the end of the campus adventure. On Tuesday morning, fire alarms started going off in Bridges and Teeter, causing a mass exodus of students. Some students didn't even have shoes on, trudging through ice and snow. As it turns out, pipes had burst in both buildings, as well as in Savell and Collins, due to the extreme cold. The entirety of the campus, except for Regents apartments, was essentially homeless for a few hours while they temporarily patched up the damaged pipes.

The power outage lasted three days overall, coming in and out until the students were finally restored to their rooms on Thursday, February 18. From there, things went all uphill. The temperature steadily increased to a warm next week, true of the typical Texas Spring. Many students have recollected that it sparked memories of last year's Spring quarantine, only this time, it brought us closer together. Four people in a two person room sort of close.

Article by: Esther Green