Fall break snowstorm disrupts travel back to campus

University of Iowa students are returning to classes from fall break, but this year, in addition to finals and end-of-year projects, they are being greeted with a foot of snow. 

On Saturday, just two days before classes at the UI resumed, Iowa City received over 9 inches of snow according to the city, causing issues for some UI students trying to make it back on campus. Iowa City also accumulated 1 to 3 inches of snow Monday, according to AccuWeather.

According to the Eastern Iowa Airport, over 60 percent of scheduled flights were canceled on Saturday, with seven cancellations on Sunday, and none on Monday.

The UI’s general policy for extreme weather states the university is “never fully closed,” due to the necessity of its residential, health care, research, and public safety aspects. However, the university may “reduce operations under various conditions and various extents.” This can include, but is not limited to, canceling classes or reducing operations to essential operations. 

UI second-year student Ellie Bennett is from Ohio but even she wasn’t ready for the travel chaos the snowstorm caused, from a canceled connection in St. Louis to Des Moines, to an unexpected detour through Chicago.

“I didn’t want to be stuck in St. Louis, so I asked where else [the airline] was flying out to, and they said there was one more flight going to Chicago Midway,” she said. “I ended up flying there and then drove to Iowa City with my friend who lives in Illinois.”

UI second-year student Erin Stone said she made it back before classes started, however, a two-hour drive to Iowa City turned into four due to the road conditions. 

She said classes should have been canceled on Monday as the 511, a traveler information service provided by the Iowa Department of Transportation, marked most of the state as being completely covered in snow and ice. 

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“Luckily, I made it back safely, but that was not the case for many others on the roads,” Stone said. “Having class today put students in a dangerous position as it encouraged them to travel across the icy roads in order to make it back in time for class on Monday.”

Stone said only one of her professors made class accommodations, as he couldn’t make it back himself. 

“He is also stranded,” she said. “His flight from another state got canceled due to the storm. None of my other teachers have canceled class.”

Bennett said after attending a couple of classes Monday, she doesn’t necessarily think every class should have been canceled.

“However, I do think there for sure should have been grace for people coming from out-of-state because so much of it was out of everyone’s control,” she said. 

The UI’s policy instructs “individuals should use good judgement and avoid serious risks when traveling to campus or attending classes.” 

Some said classes should have been canceled due to the timing of the break, including second-year student Ryan Kolsrud. 

“This was not just a normal storm where everyone is on campus,” he said. “It occurred on one of the biggest travel weekends of the year for the university. Many people’s travel plans, including my own, were shaken up due to people deciding not to come back on Sunday and flight delays.”

Kolsrud also said the UI should have followed suit in canceling classes with other universities in the state, including Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa.

“This is compounded with most of Iowa’s students hauling from Illinois, meaning they are driving on I-80, which is a treacherous road in the winter,” he said. 

The City of Iowa City reminds residents to keep their sidewalks clear and “snow should be cleared within 24 hours of a 1-inch or greater snowfall, or after any accumulation of ice has ended,” according to their website. 

The city also provides free salt and sand mix for residential use, available at the Streets Division parking lot off S. Gilbert Street, located at 3901 Napoleon Lane.