MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Before West Virginia University students can head back to class, tons of snow must be removed from campus. WVU remained closed on Monday as it was all hands on deck for facilities personnel trying to clear campus.
“We’ve gotten people out of maintenance as well as the custodial staff to come out and assist,” said Vice President of Facilities and Services Randy Hudak. “We reached out to everybody. We even had administrative staff in yesterday, doing what we can do. We can’t run the equipment but we can shovel.”
Parking lots were attacked by the heavy equipment, plowing snow in to the corners of parking lots and other open areas but crews quickly ran out of places to plow the snow. Crews had to then load the snow into dump trucks and have it hauled off campus. In other areas on campus, there was no substitution for old fashioned shovels to clear off sidewalks, steps and emergency exits around buildings.
As soon as the snow stopped on Saturday, crews went to work trying to clear campus, although it was difficult for many crew members to get to work.
“The staff that came out on Sunday was just tremendous. Many of them had to dig for hours just to get their vehicle on the road just to come to work. I really want to thank every one of them,” praised Hudak.
The university was scheduled to reopen campus at 6 p.m. on Monday to allow time for staff to prepare for classes on Tuesday.