On Sunday, Aug. 28, Hurricane Irene hit campus, causing floods, fallen trees, a campus-wide shutdown, and several power outages. Students on campus were still feeling the effects of Irene this week—power remained out in many senior houses until Aug. 31, and flights bringing students to campus were rescheduled. Even now, Physical Plant is clearing walkways of stray branches and debris.

According to Connecticut Light and Power, Irene caused power outages in 17 percent of Middletown. Campus streets Brainard, Cross, Fountain, Home, Knowles, Lawn, Miles, Pine, Vine, and Warren were all affected, said Director of Residential Life (ResLife) Frances Koerting.

Although most of the damage occurred on the night of Saturday, Aug. 27, areas surrounding Freeman Athletic Center experienced power outages early the next morning. Power was restored to Freeman on Tuesday and to many surrounding senior homes the following day.

According to Director of Physical Plant Cliff Ashton, power outages on campus were caused primarily by trees downed by the storm’s high winds in neighborhoods outside of campus. There was also significant damage to many trees on campus, as well as trees along Long Lane, which caused downed wires and blocked roads.

Physical Plant was hard at work clearing fallen trees and making necessary repairs before freshmen students arrived on Wednesday.

Many students in wood-frame houses were relocated to Lo Rise for the first few nights, including Jisan Zaman ’12 and Nica Latto ’12 who live on Pine and Warren Streets respectively. They are now allowed back into their own residences but still face problems surrounding the power outage upon their return home.

“The house has water, but the gas stove doesn’t work,” Zaman said on Wednesday.

The entire campus was effectively shut down for the storm’s duration, preventing many early- arrival students from moving in. International student arrival day was postponed by one day, and plans for the University pre-orientation Jewish Community Camping Trip were disrupted. Football players were supposed to arrive on Sunday and were asked to wait until Monday.

“My understanding is that in addition to international students, there are a few other first year students who will not be able to arrive until Thursday or Friday,” Koerting wrote in an email to The Argus.