Students stranded away from Boston

A storm that brought blizzard like conditions and over a foot of snow to the Boston area yesterday left President's weekend travelers stranded as the city declared a snow emergency.

Snowfall totals are expected to reach between 18 and 25 inches before the storm leaves the region this afternoon. The precipitation came from a slow moving system, which also caused significant accumulation on the Mid-Atlantic states over the weekend.

The storm hit the region on the last day of the busy President's weekend, foiling many Tufts students' return plans. Logan Airport was running at ten percent capacity Monday afternoon, with very limited service decided on a plane by plane basis. Approximately 300 flights had been cancelled, stranding thousands at the airport.

Amtrak trains were cancelled south of Washington DC, but New York and Boston trains were running on time. An Amtrak representative said the company has been busier because of airports shutting down, but that they expect no delays in service.

Although trains were running, some travelers were simply unable to make their way to the station. Freshman Lane Howitt was stranded in Rhode Island after visiting over the long weekend. "The roads are horrible," Howitt said. "On a good day, it's about 30 minutes [to the train station], if I left here now, it would probably take two to three hours."

Most buses cancelled their Monday routes, as the storm began in New York and locations further west starting Sunday night. Sophmore Paul Nangeroni was stranded in Saratoga Springs, 20 minutes north of Albany, New York after Greyhound cancelled all service through Tuesday.

Nangeroni worried the delayed service could force him to miss tests later in the week. "I could get out sooner, it's all up to Greyhound. But worst case scenario, I am here till late Tuesday night, early Wednesday morning, with few notes to study off of, and not a prayer that they will move the exam," he said.

Freshman Talia Goodkin was also worried how the cancellations would affect schoolwork. Faced with the almost certain cancellation of her overnight flight from California on Monday. "I already missed classes on Friday to go to Los Angeles and if I were to miss more classes on Tuesday, I'd get really behind," she said.

An email sent out to the student body on Monday afternoon said that classes were expected to be in session on Tuesday. Students were encouraged to stay tuned to local radio and television stations or contact the weather emergency information line for updates.

Howitt was not waiting for official word, however. "I don't know if they are going to cancel school tomorrow, even if they don't I'm probably going to stay [in Rhode Island]," she said.

On campus, efforts to deal with the storm were aided by its arrival on President's Day, a University Holiday when classes were suspended. A snow emergency was declared, forcing all students to remove their cars from the streets to Cousens Gym or the Boston Avenue parking garage.

Some local food delivery establishments decided to shut down, in the face of increasingly hazardous conditions.

Zing Wingz decided to shut down yesterday afternoon because the City of Medford's snow emergency and liability concerns. "I'm sending out deliverers with two or three orders and they're taking more than an hour at a time," co-owner Rick Silverti said. He also expressed concerns for drivers in the hazardous conditions.

But most other delivery restaurants remained open during the storm. A representative from Espresso's Pizzeria said the establishment was planning to stay open for as long as possible, and that it had "no specific plan to close." Panda Palace was still offering delivery in addition to taking walk-in customers for its buffet.

With no classes and more than a foot of snow on campus, students took time to enjoy the winter conditions. The President's Lawn was full of local community members who were sledding, and others who engaged in snowball fights.

"The snow was nice and cold and fluffy," freshman Anita Sinha said. "It had most people staying indoors, we decided to be rebels and go play in the stuff. It was a lot of fun but we tried making snow angels, and five minutes later, new snow had already filled up the forms."