The hum of generators echoing throughout the Lehigh Valley, 248 busier than ever, lines for gas stations three blocks long, this (kind of) unexpected nor’easter caught the East Coast off guard leaving everyone frantically finding ways to keep warm and occupied on Friday, March 2 through Wednesday, March 7. 

Originally, Bangor was forecast for “rain mixed with snow” but winter storm Riley shifted by Friday morning as things took a literal turn for the worst. 

Chaotic wind and snow tore through Bangor, bringing down trees and power lines—resulting in an early dismissal— trapping buses and cars as they raced home to avoid the storm. 

“Driving home was terrible. I couldn’t see because of the snow and trees had fallen on the roads so it took me forever to get home,” senior Ian Absalom said. 

As the storm raged on power loss quickly spread throughout the boroughs of Bangor. 

“The worst part about this storm was I had no heat or electricity because my power went out, and then on top of that I had my wisdom teeth removed Friday morning and had no medication for the pain because CVS was closed,” senior Kylee Will said. 

A few lucky residents only had to brave the storm without power for a few hours while extremely unlucky homes had to wait until Wednesday before their power was fully restored. 

“The worst part about not having power was not being able to charge our phones or cook food. It was also really hard to get around at night,” junior Ben Holland said. “I didn’t have power for three days.” 

Power outages and road conditions kept Bangor School District closed Monday and Tuesday while another snow storm—Quinn—canceled school Wednesday and caused a two-hour delay on Thursday. 

With the school shut down, spring sports had to push back planned tryouts, but despite several setbacks to the start of their seasons, athletes remain optimistic and excited as they anxiously wait to get out on their fields, courts, or tracks, to finally begin practice. 

“I think that these obstacles (weather) that are in the way of us getting better and preparing for the season is a good opportunity to overcome and hopefully we will be back getting reps in as soon as possible,” senior baseball player Jake Caserta said. “With the weather right now, there is no telling how long it will take to be able to get on that field, but the sooner the better.” 

Even with the obvious pitfalls of missing school, some students and staff were able to relax and reorganize during their “five-and-a-half-day weekend.”

“My favorite part about the snow days was obviously not having to go to school,” sophomore Carly Amerman said. “All I did was hangout with friends and eat a lot of really unhealthy foods.” 

While underclassmen enjoyed their break, seniors began to worry about this seemingly never-ending school year and how it will affect their graduation date. 

“At this rate, if mother nature doesn’t get it together we’re going to be graduating with the class of 2019,” senior Olivia Groller said. “It would be nice if we had school because I’d like to graduate and leave ASAP.” 

As seniors keep their fingers crossed hoping there are no more missed days this year, it will be interesting to see how far back the last day of school will be pushed after this unexpected storm.