With the worst of Superstorm Sandy in the past, colleges in heavily-populated states along the east coast are struggling to get things back to normal.
The City University of New York system suffered power outages and flood damage at several campuses, including the Borough of Manhattan Community College, Kingsborough Community College, Hunter College’s Brookdale campus, and Queens College. The State University of New York system also saw damage at many of its 64 campuses, including roof damage and flooding.
A college student was killed while walking his dog in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Rutgers University New Brunswick Campuses relocated students to their Piscataway facilities and canceled classes at Newark and New Brunswick until further notice, Patch reported. Rutgers' New Brunswick campus has lost power.
In New Jersey, the state with the worst storm damage, schools like Richard Stockton College and Atlantic Cape Community College have mostly cleaned up, but aren't sure when their faculty and students could make it back to campus because of transportation problems. New York City schools face a similar issue with the subway system down and buses running hellishly slow.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports the University of Pennsylvania, Temple, Drexel, Philadelphia University, Villanova, Haverford, West Chester and Widener all announced they would reopen on Wednesday on their regular schedules. The University of Delaware hopes to resume on Thursday.
Washington, D.C. was spared the worst of the storm, but with thousands of people without power and flooding around the Potomac River, Georgetown University is trying to get things back in order, according to the Vox Populi blog:
In the next few days, facilities and housing face the greatest challenge of assessing the damage from leaks in dorms on campus. Since the hurricane increased the normal load of requests facilities can handle, employees will begin working extended hours from the morning until 11 p.m. at night.
The Chronicle of Higher Education reports Connecticut schools have their own challenges:
At Yale University, a 100-pound exhaust fan fell from the top of an engineering building on Monday and a bus shelter on the campus blew out, shattering glass onto the street, according to the campus's Web site. Students were warned on Monday to remain indoors because of downed limbs and wires. The curfew was lifted on Tuesday morning, and there were no reports of major damage.
Also in Connecticut, Fairfield University reminded all students living in beachfront homes that the town had ordered them to evacuate. Campus officials urged everyone else to go home if they could, or to stay indoors with windows locked if they couldn't. The campus made it through the storm with no major damage, but classes will remain cancelled on Wednesday.
The superstorm did not just bring heavy rains and high winds; blizzard-like snow conditions attacked some of the more inland states.
A massive snow storm blanketed the state, but West Virginia University remained open but asked professors to be "lenient and understanding" with students who couldn't make it to class. "There was some consideration to canceling classes, but officials in consultation with others decided to remain operational," university spokesman John Bolt told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Snow also hit North Carolina, and students at Appalachian State University have been mostly trapped at home by six inches of sno.w
Have you seen damage at your campus from Superstorm Sandy? Are students evacuated from your residence halls? Send photos or tips to tyler.kingkade@huffingtonpost.com
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