Some Students Still Stranded by Storm as Classes Begin

Students struggled to return to Cambridge in time for the start of classes on Monday as flights across the country were canceled following a snowstorm that pummeled parts of the East Coast.

The winter storm, known popularly as Jonas, deposited record amounts of snow in some cities, leaving many roads impassable and dozens of flights canceled. Major travel hubs including New York City and Washington, D.C., were affected.

After snow hit Cambridge last weekend, some students and faculty are facing travel dilemmas and flight delays while trying to return to campus for the new semester. By Helen Y. Wu

“I’m trying to fly out tonight; this is attempt number four,” Cassandra E. Lowell ’17, who lives in Maryland, said. “Since our street’s not ploughed, I might be out of luck.”

Lowell, who is traveling from hard-hit Frederick County, Md., said she was planning to use a sled to try to navigate her blocked neighborhood so she could make her flight on time.

“I can cut through my neighbors’ yards and attempt to wait at the bottom of their driveways for a car to come pick me up,” Lowell said.

Other students coming from the Washington, D.C., area and northern Virginia faced similar obstacles arriving back to the Yard, with chaotic travel conditions complicating a smooth start to the semester.

“I was supposed to fly out Friday night and that flight got canceled, I got a different flight for Sunday night and that was canceled, and then I had a Monday morning flight that was delayed until the afternoon,” said Brooke C. Dickens ’16. “Then they put my luggage on the wrong flight, and I had to wait an hour and a half until it got here.”

“It's been rough,” she added.

While some students said they were frustrated that they were not on campus to attend their first classes, most inconvenienced students said they did not foresee any major problems in their shopping week planning.

“I personally like the first day of class because it’s the easiest and the most fun,” Jessika S. Nebrat ’18 said, who was still in Harrisburg, Pa., as of Monday afternoon. “Luckily my class schedule is pretty set—there was only one class I was shopping—but I’m missing three that I’m going to take.”

For Albert B. Corvah ’18, the first day of classes is crucial for setting the tone of the semester.

“It’s definitely inconvenient to miss the first few lectures of the semester; there were also a couple advising meetings I had to go to,” said Corvah, who hopes to fly into Boston from Baltimore, Md. “It’s not that bad, but I would've liked to be there on the first day and get a good start to the semester.”

Despite the frustrations the storm caused, students managed to stay positive and to find constructive ways to spend their time.

“I watched all of Harry Potter, so that was fun,” Dickens, a senior, said. “It’s been a great start to the last semester of college.”