Coping with the blackout blues



Okay, agreed. It wasn't a war zone.

But for many of us it was -- and for hundreds of thousands of people in Quebec and Ontario it still is -- hell. The Globe and Mail's derisive "barely heck" might have described the storm's first day, although some people knew right away that we were in big trouble.

Biology professor Martin Lechowicz lives in Hudson. He was without power for 12 days, but says he was expecting a long siege. "On the first morning, I went out into my backyard and when I saw the extent of the ice coverage, I knew what we were in for. I called my office and told them I wouldn't be going anywhere. They said, 'Fine, we'll see you tomorrow,' and I realized they had no idea."

A lot of McGill staff and most students live downtown. I've talked to quite a number this week who were caught unprepared because they never believed that the downtown core would be affected. Others thought living close to a hospital was some sort of talisman. News reports reassured them that this storm damage was the stuff of suburbs -- and NDG. So when things really turned grim on Friday, downtown residents found themselves without batteries, water, cash, canned food and without anywhere to get them.

Hotels, already chock full of stranded tourists and refugees from other areas, lost power. No bank machines, pay phones, traffic lights, and finally, no metro. Just darkness, chaos and weather. Did you ever imagine you would be glad to see ice pellets? It was like walking or driving on ball bearings, but at least they didn't add to the inches of heavy ice that coated every surface.

Meanwhile, on campus, the University's Crisis Committee had been meeting and would do so every day while McGill was closed. Scores of security and facilities management staff were beginning the long shifts necessary to prevent a major system breakdown or damage to one of the 72 buildings spread across the downtown campus.

Director of Human Resources Robert Savoie calls them heroes, another strong word perhaps, but he says the term is richly deserved. As we went to press, crews were still working chopping ice on rooftops and replacing broken radiators in the Macdonald Engineering Building.

We've had only a few days to put this issue together, and I'm sure we've missed some good stories. If you would like to share an ice storm story or give some recognition to a heroic individual, department or service, send us a couple of paragraphs by fax or e-mail, and we'll publish your news.

The further blackout on Tuesday reminded us that we should still be conserving power, so elevator service and building ventilation are not yet fully restored. Facilities Management director Steve Sura says it's especially important to keep all windows shut and to turn out the lights if you're the last one to leave a lab, classroom or office.

For everyone missing e-mail messages, Howard Heitner, assistant director of operations in the Computing Centre, advises that although incoming messages were collected during the shutdown, those more than three days old have probably bounced back to the senders by now. He says that current e-mail should be getting through and in the next few days, any messages still stored should start to arrive in your mailbox.

Diana Grier Ayton