Winter storm impacts both campus and region

• Snow and freezing temperatures incited Ball State to cancel classes for the second day in a row.

• Residence halls have organized activities and games to entertain students stuck in the dorms.

• Indiana faced many negative impacts of the cold, including around 25,000 homes and businesses without power on Monday. Gov. Mike Pence declared a state of disaster emergency for 29 counties, including Delaware County.

A snowstorm that dumped a foot of snow on Muncie and caused lingering subzero temperatures caused Ball State to cancel classes for a second day.

Temperatures are expected to climb to 4 degrees today, but the wind chill will remain around negative 30 to negative 40, according to the National Weather Service. These types of temperatures can cause frostbite on exposed skin in less than half an hour.

The cold and the remaining snow is what led officials to cancel classes, said Tony Proudfoot, a university spokesperson.

Dining halls will maintain normal hours of operation and the green and red loop buses will run from 7:15 a.m. to 11 p.m. Regular service is scheduled to return Wednesday.

ACROSS CAMPUS

In the blistering cold, one group of students returned from Winter Break to their house with a broken furnace.

Anna Pasquali, a junior public relations major, said she and her housemates returned Sunday to Muncie to find the temperature inside at about 45 degrees. Their landlord had set up space heaters to keep the water pipes inside the house from freezing.

The roommates pulled their mattresses into one room to keep warm. They played games and watched movies to pass the time.

“Right now, we are playing ‘Just Dance’ to generate our own heat,” she said.

The cold weather forced president Jo Ann Gora, the football team, coaches and other Ball State officials to remain in Mobile, Alabama, after the GoDaddy Bowl on Sunday evening.

“We have been in constant touch with the campus and the band who are busing home, today,” Gora said in an email. “All are safe and warm and eager to get home to Indiana.”

On campus, Ball State hall directors and residence assistants organized impromptu activities to help entertain students as they stayed inside.

DeHority Complex resident assistants set up board games between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday and showed the BCS National Championship Game in their lobby, said Cory Diemler, a front desk employee.

In Elliot Hall, students offered ideas to RAs for activities their floors could participate in.

“If someone has an idea, they ask the hall director, then we do it,” said Katie Miller, a front desk employee. “Kind of just whatever they want to do.”

Jim Lowe, director of Facilities Planning and Management, said essential functions at the university operated as expected Monday and should continue to work normally today.

Lowe said it may be several days, though, before campus walkways are completely clear of snow.

ACROSS THE STATE

Things are not going so smoothly elsewhere in the state.

Gov. Mike Pence declared a state of disaster emergency for 29 Indiana counties Monday including Delaware County and said, “the state stands ready to help Hoosiers as needed.”

Across Indiana, nearly 25,000 homes and businesses remained without power Monday. The storm caused railways to cease service and forced toll roads to ban trucks temporarily.

Emergency officials in the northern two-thirds of the state warned people to stay off the roads, many of which were rendered impassable because of heavy snow and winds that drifted over some roadways. Additionally, many of those counties issued warnings asking everyone except emergency workers to avoid travel. At least one person had died from a crash on snow-covered roads.

The heaviest snowfall was 15 inches reported in Tipton, in the north-central area, according to the weather service. Meanwhile in the south, where much of the precipitation fell as rain, Bloomington reported less than one inch of new snow.

Highway officials Monday afternoon reopened two major highways in the northwest — Interstate 65 between Lafayette and Merrillville and I-80/94 from the Illinois state line to Michigan City, but later closed I-65 again because of deteriorating conditions. Numerous state and local roads remained closed.

Indiana Department of Homeland spokesman John Erickson said National Guard crews were contributing highway and roadside assistance and helping emergency medical services reach patients. Erickson said even some emergency vehicles were having trouble in the snow.

Muncie Mayor Dennis Tyler opened the City County Building as a shelter for those who need protection from the subzero temperatures expected to continue through today.

The city’s government buildings are scheduled to reopen at 10 a.m.

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