Ice Storm Heroes at the University of Arkansas: Part II

Editor’s Note: This is the second part of an ongoing series of stories about the university staff who worked through Ice Storm 2009. This and other installments may be found at http://www.uark.edu/rd_vcad/urel/iceStorm2009.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas never really closes. Classes were cancelled, offices and business operations were closed for an unprecedented four days after an historic ice storm.

Approximately 4,500 students live on campus. Their needs didn’t stop for inclement weather.

Essential members of the university staff didn’t stop either: They overcame challenges and worked through the week to make sure the students were safe, warm, fed and housed. These men and women are among the real heroes of the Ice Storm of 2009.

Among the first to feel the effects of the light freezing rain on campus were the three University of Arkansas police officers patrolling on Monday night. As they helped the occasional stranded driver on the increasingly slick streets, they kept their dispatchers and supervisors back at the station informed about conditions outside. That information helped administrators decide early Tuesday morning to put the inclement weather policy into effect for the day.

Police officers know that they are “essential staff.” That status goes with the badge and uniform. So it’s not surprising that while nearly every officer lost electricity at home, the UAPD was close to full staff throughout the storm and its aftermath. The freezing rain continued through the day Tuesday, and then the ice-laden trees began to break. Not just on campus, where the officers had to work, but at their homes as well.

“Driving into work was like an obstacle course,” said Cpl. Jeff Shetlar. Still he got in each night from his home in Elkins and volunteered to stay late whenever he was needed. “I only worked a few extra hours. We have a pretty dedicated crew and most of them found a way to get in for their shifts.”

“I was finally able to come in after moving trees off my driveway just to get to work,” said officer Andrea Bugg. She worked her Wednesday midnight shift and the Thursday basketball game despite having no power at home “and about 30 feet of fence to fix.” 

Patrol officer Jennifer Sibley had extensive damage to her mobile home when a tree fell on it. She never missed a shift.

Sgt. Bryan Haines had damage to his home, too, but worked each night on his scheduled days off to cover the shifts for other officers. Still, he was more impressed by some of his fellow officers.

 “Sgt. Ben Velasco didn’t miss a shift, regardless of road conditions,” Haines said. “Sgt. Aaron Mahan stayed overnight at the station so he could be at work the following mornings.”

Mahan wasn’t the only officer who moved into the UAPD offices. In fact, more than one officer brought family along to spend the night. Dispatcher Debbie McKinney was one of them. When she wasn’t handling communications duties, she arranged to get cots and bedding from the housing department for the dozen extra people at the station.

There’s nothing like bad weather to keep the crime rate down, but patrol officers had plenty of work to do.

“Tuesday night, my main job was to check buildings and streets, to make sure there were no trees or power lines down, no immediate dangers to the students,” said Shetlar. “We helped move trees out of the roads. And I stopped to talk with some students who were sledding down the hill, make sure they were being careful. At least someone found a way to have fun.”

Keeping roads clear, escorting students to their cars, and doing extra security checks at university buildings north and south of the main campus, where the power was out, filled the day and night shifts for the patrol officers. Thursday night, UAPD officers drew one additional duty: security for the Arkansas basketball game. Most of them still had no electricity at home; however, all but five were there for the game.

Back at the office, one simple job kept a lot of officers busy through the week: answering the phone. UAPD was deluged with calls from worried parents who couldn’t get in touch with their children. The officers provided reassurance that residence halls had heat and electricity, that the dining services were working, and that the campus was secure. In some cases they helped track down a student, confirmed he or she was safe and sound, and delivered a message: “Call home.”