Friday's combination of snow, ice, rain, sleet and wind left on-campus students confined to their dorms while off-campus residents, many of whom lost power and heat as a result of the weather, struggled to stay warm.
"I almost got knocked down," said Cristo Benedict, a junior communication and management information systems major. Benedict said he and four friends were slammed by the wind when they walked to class, mistakenly believing the weather to be fair when they set out.
Effective 1 p.m., Friday, Amherst Town Supervisor Susan Grelick declared a travel ban due to "hazardous conditions." All university events, including classes, were canceled as of 3 p.m.
Before the university officially canceled classes, some students had a difficult time getting to their destinations and many others were unaware that classes were not in session.
The major effect the ice storm had were the widespread electrical outages that left 50,000 Erie County residents without electricity, according to Steve Brady, a public relations manager for Niagara Mohawk. Nearly one-third of the company's customers, 80,000 people, were without power overall.
According to Brady, "crews from as far away as Albany, Watertown, Key Span from Long Island, Massachusetts Electric, Hydro Quebec," all came to assist Niagara Mohawk, bringing some 1,600 electricians to work in the field.
Though most of North Campus was unaffected by the loss of electricity, several buildings on South Campus lost all power.
"We had power outages on South Campus," said Frank Aromola, a plant utilities engineer at the Chilled Water Plant. Aromola said that during the outages, much of Main Street lost power. When power was restored several hours later, the Chilled Water Plant purposefully turned off the electricity for an hour to change an electrical feeder that had malfunctioned.
According to Aromola, the apartments in Flickinger Court also lost power, including the sump pumps, causing the students' basements to flood.
"We were running backup generators everywhere," said Aromola. He added that they used portable pumps and "whatever they could muster up on campus."
Craig Jackson, a UB graduate living in the Campus Manor apartment complex, said he was without heat and electricity for 36 hours.
"It went out from 12 at night so basically the whole block was getting ready to go out or to go to sleep," said Jackson. "Everyone was basically caught halfway to somewhere."
"The heat wouldn't work because the thermostats are electrically powered," said Jackson. "Our hot water was still on because it's gas."
In addition to electrical inconveniences, many activities were cancelled, including a six-round sorority rush party that was supposed to take place between 10 p.m. and midnight on Friday.
"There was an actual party for rush scheduled," said Pamela Stephens-Jackson, university liaison for Greek Affairs. "My concern was personal safety. I didn't want women showing up on North Campus at 10 o'clock in buildings that were empty."
Students on North Campus, though not without power, were also inconvenienced by the storm.
"It was kind of a pain in the butt because you couldn't do anything. It was kind of scary driving around too, because some of the lights were out," said Nikki Fox, a sophomore English major.
"I stayed in because of the wind and because I heard that a tractor trailer flipped over," said Lindsay Farnsworth, a freshman psychology major.
Though as of Sunday evening there were still 18,200 Niagara Mohawk customers without power in Canada, Buffalo, and the surrounding areas, most of the electricity has been restored.
"I ended up just leaving town and going to a friend's house [Friday night]," said Jackson. "I got back the next day and the heat was back and the lights were back on."
According to Aromola, the repairs needed on North Campus were minor and included the replacement of a blown out transformer in Ketter Hall and the running of a generator overnight in the Baird research building on Sweet Home Road.
"It's been horrendous. [The Chilled Water Plant crews] had to work outside in the elements," said Aromola. "I think overall, they did a great job."
