This year's holiday break — and an unexpected break shortly thereafter — will be ones that won't soon be forgotten.

At Christmas, massive snowfall altered or cancelled many holiday travel plans. Those inconveniences, though, were eclipsed by the belated New Year's ice storm that left more than 100,000 East Central Indiana electric customers without power and sent many to stay in emergency shelters.

During the height of the storm on Jan. 5, the night sky was filled with unworldly green flashes from power lines shorting out and transformers exploding around the city. Area residents' sleep was interrupted frequently by thunderous electrical surges and the horrendous crashing of branches and entire trees buckling from the weight of the ice.

"It will take us several weeks to learn how many trees were lost on campus, but we're estimating that hundreds or possibly a thousand trees were knocked down or damaged," said Kevin Kenyon, associate vice president for facilities planning and management.

The majority of campus lost power for nearly five hours Jan. 5. The power throughout most of campus was interrupted again late that evening. The Administration Building, Student Center and Ball Gym were some of the few buildings that remained on line. Until the morning of Jan. 8, many buildings south of Riverside Avenue had power, while those north of Riverside were without power, added Kenyon.

The university closed for business Jan. 6 and 7. On Jan. 6, essential employees were called in. Those employees were joined Jan. 7 by employees from the registrar, bursar, admissions, financial aid and housing offices, allowing the university to distribute payroll checks and take care of students preparing to return to campus for the start of classes Jan. 10.

To accommodate university community members during the power outage, the Office of Sports Facilities Management and Recreation Services opened Ball Gym for those in need of shower facilities or a warm place to sleep. From Jan. 6-8, about 90 people slept there for a night and about 550 people stopped by to take a shower, spend some time in the warm building or to use an outlet to recharge their cell phone and computer batteries.

Thankfully, all of the campus was back on line before students returned to campus. A few service buildings, however, were powered by emergency generators many days later. Since most of the university power lines are underground, utility crews didn't have to attend to any downed lines on campus and no buildings were seriously damaged.

However, some off-campus students and faculty were without power when classes resumed on Monday, so the university offered them housing without charge in Trane Hall. More than 50 students and faculty members have taken advantage of the temporary housing.

In the next few weeks, work crews will be focusing their continued efforts on removing brush. Most of the debris should be removed next week, and all will be cleared the following week if the weather cooperates, Kenyon said.

"Soggy ground will keep heavy equipment from getting to the debris directly," he said. "Much of the clearing and loading will have to done by hand."

University officials were pleased with the way their contingency plans were put into action. Much of the resources and manpower were in place to handle the emergency. That doesn't mean, however, that all aspects of the plans were without flaws.

"We've already held critique sessions regarding our response to the ice storm and cited areas that need improvement and others that were our strengths," Kenyon said. "Post mortems, for lack of a better term, are critical to refining action plans."

Most members of the Ball State community will eventually look back at the storm and remember the helping hands of friends and neighbors rather than cataloging the myriad inconveniences of going days without power.

In her most recent "President's Perspective," President Jo Ann M. Gora said, the stories that will be told recalling the storm will be of "the neighbor with a generator who knocked on the door and said come and stay; the lucky few with power who opened their homes to Ball State friends and coworkers for days; those with hot water who offered showers and washing machines; parents who invited children from cold houses over to play in warm houses; and folks sharing food, firesides, chainsaws and conversations."

She went on to say how proud she was of the way the Ball State community helped one another. "What I've seen over the past five days really solidifies my impression of our Ball State community as a positive, caring 'can-do' group of people."