Yahdie Pt IV: ‘Snowmageddon’

Nneka Jackson Georgetown University

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

About two weeks ago, the campus was forewarned of a snowstorm that would begin on a Friday afternoon.

It was said that we were to get up to a foot of snow so we should prepare to be indoors for the weekend and hope that we could venture outside by Monday. The DC/Maryland/Virginia (DMV) area was sent into frenzy.

As the days passed and anxiety built, supermarkets were swarmed with panicked residents stocking up on food and emergency supplies -- flashlights, batteries, and emergency phone chargers. Hey, if the electricity went out, people still needed to text!

Not knowing what to expect, I just bought some groceries thinking that, since I live on the other side of the campus, I needed to be able to cook dinner because the food in the dining hall was not worth me trekking through a foot of snow.

As the week leading up to the so-called 'snowmageddon' came to an end, public schools were closed in anticipation of the storm. That Friday, even Federal Government staffers were told to go home early.

And then, at approximately 2:00 pm, it began.

We all dashed to our windows to watch its slow beginnings. Initially, it had seemed like it wasn't sticking but it had been predicted to snow until late Saturday night so there was plenty of time for it to build up. By 6:00 pm that evening, what began as light flurries morphed into thick, fat snowflakes, which were surely sticking, and there was no foreseeable end in sight.

Of course, the only question on our minds was whether or not this snow would be substantial enough to cancel school on Monday. The weathermen had made it clear that the snowfall would be record-breaking and business-halting until at least Wednesday, but could we students invest our fragile hopes in these men on television? We weren't sure.

As the snow fell into Saturday morning, and then Saturday night, we looked at each other in wonderment. Could it really be enough? We weren't sure. None of us had been outside to see just how much snow had fallen, we mused over our cooked and/or microwaved dinners. It might be less than it looked. I, personally, was reluctant to get my hopes up. When I ventured into the snow on Sunday for the first time, I was shocked when it seemed to consume my entire calf!

I considered the trip ahead to the small student-run convenience store across the way (I was out of salt), and decided it wasn't worth it. My Jamaican self was not made for such a treacherous task and besides, I'm sure my neighbours across the hall had plenty of salt they wouldn't mind sharing.

When Sunday night came, we all waited with bated breath -- would they cancel school? To pass the time, my roommates and I watched the Superbowl (The Saints won! Yay!) Then it came. School was cancelled for Monday. The cheers could be heard all across campus as all the students rejoiced.

But wait. The weathermen informed us of another storm on its way that could dump another foot of snow on us. Good news to our ears, but bad for those who had travel plans. School had been cancelled for Monday, but could Georgetown really stomach us being out of school another day?

Apparently they could! School was also cancelled Tuesday, and the cancellation rolled into Wednesday. By that time, cabin fever was running rampant. The city had been shut down by two-three feet of snow. Public schools had been closed for the week and the Federal Government was still closed. We wondered if President Obama was at work. Our school administration expressed their immense regret at each and every school closing, much to our chagrin. I was running out of groceries and my will to actually do schoolwork was waning. Who was I kidding?

It was gone, and all I could do was stare out at the snow -- 53 inches was a lot of water. Some cracked jokes that we would need an ark when the snow it melted. All jokes aside, it seemed like a serious possibility that we would need life jackets and inflatable rafts.

Needless to say, school was cancelled on Thursday. It wasn't until Friday that some classes resumed but a lot of the professors had called in to say that they weren't going to be able to make it. In an effort to make up for lost time, the school administration declared Monday, a national holiday, a school day, but granted liberal leave. Meaning that we should go, but if we couldn't make it then it wasn't counted against us.

Some motivation!

Campus was a wreck. There was treacherous ice everywhere, trees had fallen, unable to bear the weight of the snow, and the walls of snow that had been cleared were taller than some of the tallest students! It was a mess and the rest of the DMV wasn't much better.

Streets hadn't been plowed and some thousands of residents were without power. This was an experience I will never forget. Two weeks later, it still seems as if the snow fell only yesterday, but now there are huge puddles of water. I guess I'll be wearing these rainboots until April!

Did you watch American football's Super Bowl on Sunday?
	Yes, but just for the advertisements
	Yes, just for the game itself
	Yes, for both the game and advertisements
	No, I did not watch the Super Bowl.

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