Firstly, many apologies for posting so late but due to the floods, travelling about and sorting things out it, it slipped my mind. I doubt I will be posting too often over the course of the Christmas holiday as I’m not in Lancaster but for now I am going to talk a little about crisis management which, while not something people consider when thinking about University preparation, now seems a lot more relevant.

 

In the last week of term the North of England, including Lancaster, was hit by Storm Desmond. I knew when I came here that weather could be a bit feisty, being from Wales I hadn’t really noticed the difference, but this was unexpected. I was fortunate enough to be on higher ground so the floods themselves did not affect me aside the power cut. At first it was a novel experience, everyone frantically looking for candles and torches (ironically difficult in the dark) and going out to see the submerged cars and shops for themselves but by the following day the excitement had worn off leaving an air of panic. Realising that we had no heating, no means to cook and only natural lighting which had gone by 4pm, everyone started evacuating that could find a bit of signal to call in the cavalry. So what have I learnt from it all?

 

When choosing off-campus accommodation check where it is and how ‘crisis prone’ it is, whether it is with regards to flooding, crime or power cuts. Also become friendly with your landlord so that if something was to occur you know they will be there to help you; I am lucky to have very friendly and attentive landlords but I saw the masses of people banging on the doors of letting agents who were clearly less fortunate.

 

Make sure to keep things like torches in obvious places because when you most need them is when you’re least likely to be able to see them. In case of bad weather specifically make sure you have a decent raincoat and walking boots too, I didn’t go as far as waterproof trousers but it never hurts to be more prepared.

 

The most important thing is to make the best of whatever situation thrown at you. Despite all the worry there were positives; I’ve never bonded with some of my friends so much and you rely on the simple pleasures such as going out for walks and drunken board game nights. It almost had a festival feel as people sat around playing instruments and smelling a lot.

 

Lastly I want to say a few things about how Lancaster University handled it. Being that last week of term held everyone’s exams and coursework deadlines we were all considerably nervous that we couldn’t get to campus easily, couldn’t write or submit our essays, couldn’t revise properly or generally had been too displaced or worried to focus, especially as no one could get online to know what was going on. I think the University did well to postpone all deadlines and exams until next term even when the power did come back on and things began to return to normal, they focussed on the student’s welfare and told us to leave Lancaster if it were possible. Whilst I don’t live on campus I heard that they set up spaces for the students to sleep if they had to leave their accommodation, served free food and even set up common rooms and cinema viewings to keep up morale. They also put on free buses to Preston in order to get students to an open train station when Lancaster Train Station was closed. So as much as it isn’t something I considered when choosing a University, I can now say that Lancaster University will look after you should something go wrong.

 

And on that note, happy holidays.