Approximately 250 Facilities Management employees were involved in cleanup and recovery effort.
“Our full snow plan typically expects around 275 employees for a major winter weather event, but the holiday break and travel challenges decreased that a bit this week,” Zumbrunn said.
The University’s snow plan includes clearing 157 acres of roads and parking lots, as well as approximately 34 miles of sidewalks, including 6 miles of sidewalks, stairs and courtyards that must be shoveled by hand because equipment can’t access them.
Zumbrunn said the snow plan was complicated because the snowstorm occurred immediately after an extended holiday break. There was late notification of the storm, which quickly escalated with intense, heavy snow and significant wind gusts.
Trees on Grounds suffered extensive damage, leading to blocked streets and power outages on Grounds and at employee residences.
“At different times, large areas of Grounds suffered sustained power outages, particularly in North Grounds areas,” Zumbrunn said. “Low temperatures Monday night made surfaces extremely slick on Tuesday morning, because ice-melt products lose effectiveness once temperatures drop into the teens.”
As a result, the University modified its operational plans for both Monday and Tuesday before returning to normal Wednesday.
To ensure students could get warm and charge electronic devices during power outages, Newcomb Hall was open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday. Clemons Library was open from noon to 6 p.m. The North Grounds Recreation Facility was open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., allowing students an opportunity to exercise and shower. Student Health and Counseling & Psychological Services continued in remote format.
On Monday, UVA announced that January term courses would not meet in person, and faculty would either hold their classes online or reschedule them. Zumbrunn said the switch to online instruction decreased the number of students on Grounds and made the clean-up a bit easier.
University Parking and Transportation also implemented its inclement weather plan, which included temporary bus route consolidation and other modified services.
“Facilities Management is in charge of clearing the parking lots, but we work closely with them on the modified routes and parking restrictions,” Parking & Transportation director Rebecca White said. “The approach is to concentrate parkers inside parking garages, thus allowing Facilities Management to distribute their people and equipment more effectively and position the system for a return to normal more successfully.”
