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• Classes are canceled through Tuesday
• No problems with buildings related to cold weather
• Wind chill continues to hover around -35°F
Update
Classes are canceled Tuesday, according to a university text message sent Monday afternoon.
According to the university website, campus offices will open at 11 a.m. Tuesday, and employees will be on campus as usual along with essential employees.
Delaware County’s travel warning will remain in place until 6 a.m. Tuesday. According to the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, this restricts traveling to emergency management workers only.
Earlier
Despite nearly a foot of snow and temperatures well below zero, Ball State officials said today essential operations are functioning.
“Certainly, it’s a challenge as one would have with 12 inches of snow,” said Jim Lowe, director of Facilities Planning and Management. “We have staff clearing what they can, but the weather is certainly a factor.”
He said it will be several days before crews complete the job, but “they have to have them ready for classes tomorrow.”
Around the state, Gov. Mike Pence said he will sign an executive order to declare emergencies for at least 25 Indiana counties, according to The Associated Press.
Pence also warned that travel could present “real peril” due to the combination of adverse road conditions and deadly wind chills.
“If you can stay in today, stay in all day today,” he said at a news conference Monday. “People need to understand that this is a very serious and very dangerous storm, and despite the sunshine, it continues to be just that.”
Other than the danger of the cold to people, the wet, heavy snow left tens of thousands of residents across the state without power.
In Muncie, Indiana Michigan Power reported 120 homes are still without power, and it hoped to have them reconnected by 9 p.m.
Nearly 40,000 homes and businesses were without power statewide after heavy snow pulled limbs off trees onto already weighed down power lines, the AP reported.
The heaviest snowfall was 15 inches in Tipton, less than an hour’s drive from Muncie.
Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard urged Indianapolis schools and business to remain closed through Tuesday, looking to keep residents safe from the worst of the cold, the AP also reported.
Tony Proudfoot, a Ball State spokesperson, said the university will reopen at 7 a.m. Tuesday.
“At this point, everything seems to be going as well as we can expect given the circumstances,” Proudfoot said.
The temperature today is hovering at about -11°F, with wind chills at about -35°F. These conditions can cause frostbite in less than 30 minutes, according to the National Weather Service.
Information for avoiding frostbite is available on the Ball State website.
Proudfoot said students should be sure to wear appropriate clothing and plan extra time to get to class.
Earlier
Ball State canceled classes for Monday and Muncie declared a snow emergency as a two-part storm laid 6 inches of snow and threatened to push temperatures to the lowest in 20 years.
University Parking Services will not be ticketing students for leaving their cars on campus until 7 a.m. Tuesday.
Buses will not be running on campus. Tony Proudfoot, a university spokesperson, said dining halls will operate as normal.
The Delaware County commissioners and Muncie Mayor Dennis Tyler declared a state of emergency for the county and city. Residents were asked to stay off roads except for work and emergencies.
“Any vehicle blocking or stranded on roadways will be removed from the road as deemed necessary,” the order said.
Tyler also said he agrees with Ball State’s choice to cancel classes.
“I can’t imagine students walking to class. … I think it’s the right thing to do,” he said.
Ball State President Jo Ann Gora sent an email to university officers at mid-afternoon.
“As most folks know, we are expecting heavy accumulations of snow today, but it is the predictions of extreme cold tomorrow that are especially troubling,” she wrote.
According to a university text message alert, campus will reopen at 7 a.m. Tuesday.
Duke Campbell, city street superintendent, said some vehicles have interfered with the plows. He said the 12 plows are having trouble keeping up with the snowfall and are being helped by the sanitation department.
“We’re running into cars that are stuck in the road that have no business being out,” he said. “If they’re hindering our plowing efforts, then they will be towed.”
Campbell said cars will be towed to Northwest Towing and Recovery, and the drivers can go to one of the emergency shelters set up at city hall or one of the county’s fire stations.
Campbell said there is no indication when the ban may be lifted because it isn’t known for sure when the roads will be safe.
Temperatures tonight are expected to fall to around -11 degrees with a wind chill as low as -28, according to the weather service. This weather can cause frostbite on exposed skin in 30 minutes.
Professor David Call, who teaches broadcast meteorology at Ball State, blamed the frigid temperatures on an Arctic front.
“This could bring the coldest temperatures in two decades, creating extremely hazardous conditions,” he said. “This could be one of the coldest air masses to affect Indiana and the Midwest since January 1994. Some areas could have blizzard-like conditions coupled with extreme cold.
“This is not going to be fun.”
Gov. Mike Pence ordered 100 Indiana National Guard members statewide to help with cold weather emergencies in 24 four-person teams, according to The Associated Press. They will work to rescue stranded motorists, move people to shelters and work to get medical aid for those who need it.
The weather service issued a winter storm warning in effect late tonight, and a wind chill warning in effect beginning late tonight through Tuesday.
University crews cleared snow continuously as students returned to residence halls on Sunday. The weather service predicted 6 to 12 inches of snow between today and Monday.
First Sgt. Bill Vann, of the Indianapolis post of Indiana State Police, said although many roads were passable, troopers were dealing with slide-offs and jackknifed semis on the interstates.
“If you don’t absolutely have to get out, postpone it if it’s any way possible,” Vann said. “If you don’t have to travel today, don’t.”
Muncie police also said they were handling numerous slide-offs.
Residence halls opened to students at noon Saturday with the expectation that the storm would make movement on campus difficult on Sunday.
At Woodworth Complex, Molly Sitz, a junior and a resident assistant, said many students took advantage of the early opening.
“I have 52 residents on my floor and of those 52, more than half moved in on Saturday,” she said. “I had people moving in at 9 a.m., but from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. I had a mass of people just pile in.”
Those needing a safe place during the winter storm can find refuge at Muncie City Hall or any fire station in Muncie, the city said. The Jar Community Church provided several dozen donuts to the for the makeshift shelter.
The police desk at City Hall will provide a warm place stocked with toiletries and phones to contact friends or family.
Officer Sherry Barr said this is the first time the police department and city have done something like this.
If people seeking help need extended shelter, Barr said the police can arrange a living situation through one of the county township trustees.
As of 1:30 p.m., Barr said no one had needed to use the safe area or called in.
Between the church and the trustee’s office, Barr said it has been a community effort to keep everyone safe.
Lauren Chapman, Sam Hoyt, Kaitlin Lange, Alan Kavorka and Kara Berg contributed to this story.
A winter storm warning is in effect until 1 a.m. Monday for Ball State and the WCRD listening area. A wind chill warning also goes into effect at 1 a.m. Monday. For more details and updated forecast please follow @WCRDWX and visit wcrd.net/weather.
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