STORRS, Connecticut — The University of Connecticut canceled all classes Monday on the Storrs campus after an issue with an underground high-voltage line.
Classes were originally set to resume in the afternoon, but the university said the repair is lengthier and more complex than a typical outage. A spokesperson said all classes will resume Tuesday.
“I noticed that the power was out. My phone wasn’t charging. I had to go use the bathroom and all the lights were out,” junior Maxim Soroka said.
Many academic and residential buildings were impacted. The university is working to switch those on the disrupted circuits to operating circuits.
Students are also notified of dining halls with electricity.
“I needed a coffee and to get some food because the student Union is closed,” sophomore Georgiette said. “I decided to go to the Union to do some work to get my day started but there’s no WiFi.”
Georgiette was one of many who went looking for places with electricity.
Dog Lane Café right off the campus was one of the few. Employee Joe Sanford said it was not a typical Monday for them.
“A regular Monday, there’s like a lunch rush and people come in and order whatever but it’s usually not in volumes where you have a line standing out the door,” he said. “It started off pretty dead around 8 a.m. and then picked up around ten and it’s probably just going to keep picking up until like two or three o’clock.”
He said many customers have been shocked and confused by what happened. Sanford said he’s relieved the day was easier for students as they got an extra day off. While busy, he said he wishes they were impacted too so they weren’t swamped with customers.
“I wish I wasn’t working today because I could enjoy it,” he said.
This is the first week back from spring break. Many students had plans to get back in the swing of things with classes and meetings. With the power out, they are having to adjust their plans for the rest of the week.
Georgiette said she has quizzes and exams this week she was hoping to prepare for. She’s still trying to make use of time without electricity by reading books for her classes.
Jesmine Boamah, a freshman, is also nervous about how the disruption will impact her week.
“It kind of cut our time off of the project we were working on in that class. So we kind of need to meet outside of class and kind of work on it before it’s due which is next week,” she said referring to a group project.
Non-essential employees have been asked to complete work from home. The Gampel Pavilion, where the women’s basketball team takes on UCF Monday evening, was not impacted and the game is still scheduled for 9 p.m.
Just before 4 p.m., officials announced that electricity had been restored to all buildings.
Tony Black is a multi-media journalist at FOX61 News. He can be reached at tblack@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Doug Stewart is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dstewart@fox61.com.
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