Students flooded back to campus Tuesday after the weekend's powerful northeaster caused flight cancellations and dumped snow on roads, preventing many from returning to Providence over the weekend.
The blizzard, which began late afternoon Saturday and continued through early afternoon Sunday, shut down both Logan Airport in Boston and T.F. Green Airport in Warwick. Logan did not reopen until Monday morning, while T.F. Green opened later Sunday.
Some roads in and around Providence were unsafe or impassable as late as Monday, and Amtrak has operated on a reduced schedule since Sunday.
In a campus-wide e-mail sent Sunday afternoon, Vice President for Administration Walter Hunter informed the Brown community that the University would be closed Monday and urged students to delay their return until Tuesday.
As students arrived Tuesday, cars crowded College Hill's streets, which were narrowed by large snow banks and, in some cases, incompletely plowed, even two days after the storm.
Canceled flights stranded some students at airports around the country.
Henry Kaplan '06 said he left Los Angeles Saturday morning, but didn't arrive in Providence until midday Monday.
"I was supposed to fly from L.A. to Nashville and change planes and continue on to Providence," he said, "but when I got to Nashville they told me the flight had been canceled."
Kaplan said he made it to the Grand Ole Opry, but he spent most of his time in the airport because he kept being told that he would be put on the next flight.
His airline would not pay for the two nights he spent in an airport hotel because the delay was weather-related.
"It takes me a minimum of four planes to get here as is," said Sara Cunningham '06, of Hilo, Hawaii. But because of a cancellation, she had a 20-hour delay and had to stay overnight in Minneapolis. Cunningham left home Friday night and arrived in Providence at noon on Monday.
"These are the times when I wished I lived on the East Coast," she said. "(But) I did spend an entire month in Hawaii lying on the beach, so I guess I shouldn't be complaining too much," she added.
Arielle Baskin-Sommers '07, whose flight from Los Angeles to Providence was scheduled for Sunday, said she pushed her flight back a day because of news reports warning of the blizzard.
When she departed Monday, "it took (her) two hours to get through security" because the flight was packed with people who had been delayed. She got to Providence at midnight Monday.
Nina DiBona '07 of Waterville Valley, N.H., said she had planned on driving back to campus Sunday afternoon, but had to wait until Monday afternoon because of the storm.
