So, now that the snow emergency is over, we are in the process of reviewing and revising our disaster plans. We had many simultaneous events during this emergency that further stressed our system and I am proud to say we survived these because of a combination of the plans that were in place and our profoundly dedicated staff.
Here is what we had to endure on top of the 2 blizzards in a week and snow totals that exceeded the highest total ever for this area by almost 30%:
- a live meeting on-going in town as the first blizzard approached and a need to record the activity so that we could make it available for enduring material to those who wanted to get out of town early while also getting upcoming faculty into the hotel at the site of the meeting earlier than needed for local faculty so that the activity could be completed and they could be there safely
- a live activity in another state to start right after the second blizzard hit so we needed to get all materials and staff, including faculty, out early. This required flight changes and new arrangements at the site hotel as well. Also, staff could not get in to deal with additional requests for registration or information.
- a live meeting for the week afterwards, but the entire university was closed for a week and the roads were impossible in most circumstances, so gaining access to files so that the syllabus could be completed and cut to USB keys and all other final plans had to be completed by trying to use VPN access when feasible by staff that have internet access at home.
- an IT staff member who had done dedicated work for a single aspect of our system who was in her final week and was to not only complete all final tabulations for our annual report but also train other staff on her activities and provided access to files and systems. Some of this simply could not happen given the situation.
- staff at an out of town activity trying to get back to Maryland.
In addition to these there were additional issues at play, but one can see that the system was duly stressed and we have learned numerous things that we are now working to put into place to enhance our preparation for the next disaster.