- Though the majority of MVHS students went mostly unaffected by Hurricane Irene, alumni attending colleges on the East Coast weren’t all as lucky.
The hurricane, whose path started in the Caribbean on Aug. 20 and proceeded through the East Coast of the US and to Canada, caused flooding and power outages, among other damage.
Cancellation of plane flights was a problem for many alumni. According to NPR, 2,400 flights had been cancelled by Aug. 26. LA Times reported that almost another 5,000 flights were to be cancelled the following weekend, and that Sunday Aug. 28 would be the hardest day to get a flight.
Class of 2009 alumnus Tarun Galagali, currently a junior at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., took classes over the summer and had planned to fly home to the Bay Area on Aug. 28. However, when many flights were cancelled due to Hurricane Irene, he was forced to remain in New Hampshire until long after the storm passed.
Many buildings on Dartmouth’s campus were closed, including the library and gym. Students were heavily discouraged from going outside as the hurricane passed. According to Galagali, the campus was fairly unaffected, though the area did encounter heavy rains.
Flight cancellation was also a problem for class of 2011 alumnus Sean Hughes, who is attending Boston University as a freshman this fall. Though classes did not start until Sept. 6, Hughes was planning on going to school early to participate in an Outreach program. His Aug. 27 flight was cancelled due to Hurricane Irene, and he missed the program. Hughes flew in on Sept. 3 instead, as earlier flights were much more expensive.
Luckily, cancelled flights were Hurricane Irene’s largest effect on Galagali and Hughes, and both eventually reached their destinations.
