It started with school events being canceled the weekend of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, including Snoball being postponed to Feb 10th. Later, school was canceled on January 16th… then the 17th, and before you know it, there was no school for the entire week!

What seemed like a dream for students, soon turned dark. Katu news reported nearly 525,000 people lost power during the storm, some didn’t get their electricity back for eight days! 

Ice wasn’t the only problem. The wind reaching 55 miles per hour was destructive. Large trees and power lines snap like twigs, endangering many civilians and leaving permanent damages. 

The Oregonian reported that: “At least two people were stuck in a car for hours Thursday evening after the tops of a row of power poles snapped in quick succession in Troutdale, dropping live power lines onto the car and shutting down the roadway.” It took Portland General Electric workers hours before safely stopping the live electricity.

Due to the entire week before finals being canceled, the school district had to make adjustments to the schedule structure. Monday and Tuesday (Jan 22nd and 23rd) were half days, splitting the class schedule in half. This allowed students to have an hour per period to communicate with their teachers. Wednesday (Jan 24th) remained the same, Thursday and Friday (Jan 25th and 26th) was when the final exams took place. Teachers stayed at school until 3:00pm, leaving more availability for additional support if necessary. There will be no school Monday (Jan 29th) for teacher grading.

“The January storm of 2024 will be talked about for years to come. The snow, crippling ice, wind, and power outages, trapped many families in their homes as 4 days of school were canceled” Gresham High School Media’s Instagram (@greshamhsmedia) said.