A wrench in my pre-semester plans....

We had a huge storm pass through our campus yesterday. One minute a colleague was telling me I may want to look at the weather (due to my commute) and the next minute a wall of noise, wind and water hit us full force. Almost instantaneously, the power went out. Trees were bent over forming almost 90 degree angles. As large metropolitan area in Not on a Coast is susceptible to tornadoes, we headed down to the basement where about a dozen people had congregated. More than half of those seeking shelter were from another campus office who were in the building following an event. This seemed to add to their anxiety. Those of us who work in our building were more blase.

It is true that in the basement no one knew how bad things were. Someone in my department opened up a room so people could call out. One woman freaked out because she could not reach her children. We assured her that her daughter (college aged) was probably in their own basement, simply without phone reception. Another was worried about the large event tent on campus. (I assume her job has to do with coordinating events, many of which need said tent, so I can understand, if not sympathize.) Eventually, a few people went upstairs to announce the storm had passed.

When we left the building, the scene that greeted us was a little dramatic, though serious damage was thankfully absent. Small, medium and large sized branches littered the college grounds. The college is in a historic suburb with tree-lined streets. Several streets around campus were blocked by tree limbs and/or the crews clearing them. Many aging trees lost one or more large branches. Some lost as many as 1/2 to 2/3 of their branched. Small branches, previously damaged by cicadas, were everywhere. Ironically, this made many of the younger trees look healthier. Five miles away, there was no such destruction and traffic lights were working. I was able to get home with only routine delays. At our home, we seem to have suffered mostly rain, losing just one window screen, easily retrieved.

Of course, today is our last day of childcare before classes start on Monday. My campus? Still without power. So much for copying syllabi and prepping labs.