Hello on behalf of everyone here at Arthur,

I hope everyone reading this is safe and as warm as they can be under the circumstances. At time of writing this, it’s the third day without power for many in Peterborough and the surrounding area following this weekend’s ice storm.

I’m sure many of you, like me, experienced the surprise of being suddenly cast into darkness as power was precipitously knocked out to large parts of the city between Friday night and Sunday morning. Some of you may have had power restored in the interim, though if anecdotes serve, I imagine many more have not and are now finding yourselves clearing out your freezers, bundling up, burning candles, and rationing out your power banks in anticipation of further days in the dark.

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You’re not alone. Many of us here are going through the same thing.

While we at Arthur are doing our best to keep up with things (the news waits for no one, after all) the safety and wellbeing of our staff—most of whom are undergraduate students—is paramount to us at this time. That’s why we’re asking for your patience and understanding at this time if things here are slightly slower than usual.

Sadleir House, in which our office is located, has been without power since this weekend. We will continue to publish to the extent that we are able, however without access to our office, home internet, or reliable cell service—which has been increasinbly unreliable in Peterborough since Sunday—our ability to do so reliably is drastically limited.

Despite my personal hope that I’d escaped the worst of things when I still had electricity after the brunt of Saturday’s storm, my power ultimately came down late that night while I was writing missives for the coming news week.

The next morning myself and friend/colleague Sebastian Johnston-Lindsay of the Peterborough Examiner ventured out of our apartment building to find a world encased in ice, which we meticulously documented on the dwindling batteries of our smartphones (all while dodging still-falling blocks of ice). 

The scenes we saw spoke for themselves. Most every flat surface was covered in a layer half an inch thick of sheer ice. Trees were fully encased in a casing as thick as my fingers, and individual blades of grass had frozen into a thick, glassy carpet.

Icicles the length of my forearm hung from and routinely shore off the roof of my apartment building, and I couldn’t see through my skylights for all the buildup upon them.

After a second night spent by candlelight, my apartment leeching heat through my old single-pane window and the contents of my freezer having just about reached their statute of limitation on edibility, I realized that we might well be in this for the long haul.

Hydro One is currently projecting Thursday afternoon restoration of electricity for many parts of Peterborough, though with the number of rolling estimates customers have seen since Saturday it’s unclear the extent to which that number can truly be relied upon.

I spent the last 48 hours watching the Hydro One website repeatedly display that they were “reassessing” the estimated power restoration time for my apartment building, only to see it pushed another six or more hours.

Like many of you, I felt a sinking pit in my stomach each time I received confirmation of my fears that I’d be spending another night in the dark.

Given the likelihood that many parts of the city will remain without electricity for another day or two, it’s important to remember to exercise appropriate caution and care to keep yourself safe.

Like me, you may have spent much of the last couple nights listening to sirens. Perhaps I’ve noticed them more in the eerie silence which has accompanied the powerlessness of the city of late, but nonetheless they serve as a prudent reminder of the secondary dangers a blackout can cause.

Without electricity to power refrigerators and freezers, it’s much more difficult to keep food at a safe and stable temperature. Be mindful to minimize opening your refrigerator and freezer, and discard any food that goes above 4°C for an extended period of time.

I’ve seen some people in my apartment building cooking with butane camp stoves. If you’re able to do so, cook as much of your food as possible before it spoils, but under no circumstances should you use carbon-monoxide producing devices such as camp stoves or barbecues indoors.

If you have a portable stove, use it outside in a well ventilated area. Don’t drink tap water if you’re on a well or septic system, as it may not be properly treated to kill microbes; or if you use tap water for cooking, cleaning, or other use cases where it may be ingested, bring it to a rolling boil for one minute before use.

For a full list of health & safety guidelines and precautions, please consult Peterborough Public Health’s storm response guidelines.

If you are in need of heat or electricity to charge personal devices, the city is providing warming rooms at the following locations:

• Healthy Planet Arena, banquet hall, 911 Monaghan Rd.: overnight centre will be open until at least noon on April 2. According to the Examiner, food is being provided at Healthy Planet by the Salvation Army and other outside agencies.
• Miskin Law Community Complex, 271 Lansdowne St. W.: open until 11 p.m.
• Peterborough Sport and Wellness Centre, 775 Brealey Dr.: open until 11 p.m.

In addition, the city is providing busses as mobile warming shelters at the following locations:

• 611 Rogers St.
• 486 Donegal St.
• 526 McDonnel St.
• 701 Parkhill Rd. W.

While Peterborough Transit has resumed limited service as of Tuesday, April 1st, routes are being redirected to avoid potential hazards such as fallen trees and power lines. Certain routes are being run as continuous shuttle services between major hubs and city-provided warming rooms. 

For more information about the current transit services, please refer to the city of Peterborough’s transit services update.

Trent University was without power for some time this weekend, with the outage affecting everything from access to buildings to the university’s Compass Group-provided dining and foodservices.

As of the afternoon of April 1st, the university has indicated that it intends to reopen all facilities and resume classes on April 2nd, per an email from Provost & Vice-President Academic Dr. Michael Khan.

This, despite a further freezing rain warning from 3:55 PM Tuesday until 10:00 AM Thursday, which threatens to compound the existing problems.

“The ground, already near saturation, has little ability to absorb further rainfall,” the Environment Canada forecast calling for between 20–40 mm of rain reads. “Localized flooding in low-lying areas is possible. Heavy downpours can cause flash floods and water pooling on roads.”

In his email to undergraduate students, VP Khan acknowledged that “that some of you (as well as your faculty and instructors) may still be experiencing disruptions or transportation challenges due to power outages and other impacts of the ice storm.”

Nonetheless, the university intends to forge ahead with its plan to re-open as many in Peterborough continue to face days or more without power. Time alone can tell whether this is brazen or just foolhardy.

If you are a Trent University student without power or who has been affected by the ice storm this weekend, we want to hear from you. How has the storm affected you? How are you coping with things? What do you think about the university's call to return to classes tomorrow?

If you would like to share a story or photos with us, please email editors@trentarthur.ca with the subject line "Ice Storm on Campus."

As we continue to deal with the aftermath of this generational weather event, I encourage you to be kind, courteous, and communitarian. In the last few days I’ve been grateful for the compassion shown to me by my friends and neighbours who’ve offered me the opportunity to use their cars and houses to warm up and charge my devices, and lent me food and candles to get through the nights.

If I could implore anything of you as the cleanup efforts continue, it would be to pay it forward in any way you can. Hold space for your friends, share food with your neighbours, make coffee for those who can’t, help your friends clean out their freezers.

The people screaming into the void of Reddit or honking from the private prison of their automobiles are testament to the bitter divisions that such hard times sow, but we must also remember that hard times needn’t do that if we are deliberate and intentional in putting our best foot forward in these times.

I recognize this might sound like commie garbage, especially considering our masthead’s reputation for being “negative” (according to Trent Communications staff) and cynical, but though we will always be critical of current events and corrupt politicians, I want Arthur to be kind when it counts.

Now is one such time. I’m sorry to the lovely Trend ladies who tell me we swear too much, but let’s be brutally fucking honest right now and just admit it: shit sucks!

Just because shit sucks, however, doesn’t mean you have to. Being a fuckhead is a choice, so be radical and choose not to be one.

Take it from me: it’s my job the other 364 days of the year.

Be safe, be warm, and be excellent to each other,

Evan Robins

Co-Editor-in-Chief, Arthur Volume 59

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