UMass Boston was closed on Monday, Oct. 29, because of Hurricane Sandy, which left 8.2 million people in the country without electricity. 

Patrick O’Brien lost power around 4 in the afternoon on Monday. “This was particularly frustrating because as a National Guardsmen, I was told to remain on call and be by my phone ready to go. If my phone had died and I didn’t receive the call I would have been absent without leave. Fortunately my phone stayed on and the call never came,” said O’Brien, whose house was the only one on his street to lose power.

Some students took the opportunity to rest, like Alex Benty who spent the time “Iaying in bed all day and doing some packing.” Breannah Conward-Lewis enjoyed time with her friends, “running around in the hurricane.” 

According to Director of Master Planning and Construction Communications Holly Sutherland, porta-potties and several fences surrounding construction sights on campus were blown asunder. A sliding door to the Campus Center was damaged, a tree was uprooted and the high waves caused some damage to the northern side of the Harbor Walk.

The roof of the Healey Library was partially damaged, with significant amounts of water leaking into classrooms on the 11th and 10th floors. Classes have been relocated, crews are cleaning up and engineers are assessing the damage done to Healey and all other roofs on campus.