Ice storm leaves 600 OC students without power

Power outages. Toppled trees. Cancelled class.

An ice storm in October has shut down Oklahoma Christian University for over two days. 

Beginning on Monday, Oct. 26, a mixture of rain, snow, freezing temperatures and wind resulted in significant ice collection on power lines and trees, causing power outages for nearly 300,000 Oklahomans.

Oklahoma Christian did not escape from the widespread loss of electricity. All five of the residence halls on campus lost power late in the afternoon on Tuesday, Oct. 27, forcing students to evacuate for the night.

Campus closed at 4 p.m. on Monday and remained closed for two days. Classes resume on Thursday, Oct. 29.

In addition, ice accumulation has taken down the limbs of most trees on campus, while a few are totally flattened.

Students in residence halls received an email from Candance Bass, director of housing, at approximately 8:45 p.m. on Tuesday, instructing them to find accommodation with friends or family. If that was not available, female students could sleep in the Garvey Center and male students could sleep in the Price Engineering Center.

Miguel Mbumwae, resident director for the freshmen male dormitories Warlick and Fails Hall, said nearly 50 of his residents took shelter in the PEC.

“We were spread out all over the building having fun; doing silly things,” Mbumwae said. “It was definitely weird, but I liked it. It was a nice way to say, ‘Don’t worry, guys, we will get through this.’”

However, Mbumwae said the setup was still uncomfortable since several people were sleeping in the same room with no mattresses.

“I know some students were not a fan of it at all,” Mbumwae said. “Some students wanted to play video games for most of the night and some just wanted to sleep. Since we were in the same room for a while and it was early, the light was on. There was also a lot of noise, video games and people talking to each other, which is not ideal.”

Candace Bass, director of housing, sent an email to students on the evening of Wednesday, Oct. 28, and said the power would not return until at least the following day, meaning students must continue sleeping in academic buildings or staying with family or friends.

“Over 600 students were displaced from the dorms due to the power outage,” Bass said. “It seems like we may have the same issue tonight, as Oklahoma Gas and Electric are working hard to restore power to [over] 250,000 local residents.”

However, power was restored to the entire campus late on Wednesday evening.

All apartment buildings at Oklahoma Christian kept their electricity. Some freshmen and sophomore students stayed with upperclassmen in the apartments.

Freshman Julianna Rios said she reached out to senior Jaycie Carroll after realizing Gunn Henderson, the freshmen women’s residence hall, was being evacuated. 

“It was very inconvenient to get the email at 9 p.m. saying we had to move, especially since the power went out four hours earlier,” Rios said.

Freshman Chastity McMahan said senior Maria Jones invited her and her friend to spend the night.

“My friend, her emotional support bunny and I all piled into Maria’s apartment,” McMahan said. “This morning, Maria’s roommate Hannah made us waffles and chocolate milk. It’s been pretty fun.”

Mbumwae said he hopes Oklahoma Christian will recognize the inconvenience the power outage has caused and give students grace in their classes.

“I know people are still having online classes, but for those who had a hard time finding somewhere to sleep, they were not comfortable and the Wi-Fi is slow because everyone is near the same hotspot,” Mbumwae said. “It hasn’t been ideal in terms of doing class activities.”