The Big Chill hitting the Seattle area has more than just residents bundling up, as schools shut down and pipes burst across the region, causing a wave of disruptions. The deep freeze on Tuesday led to the closure of several schools in districts including Seattle, Lake Washington, Northshore, Issaquah, Edmonds, Shoreline, and Lake Stevens, with impacted schools shutting their doors, as reported by The Seattle Times. Other schools within the districts kept their doors open, persevering through the icy weather.
Meanwhile, at Seattle University, the warmth of respite was nowhere to be found for nine students forcibly ousted from their dorm rooms after a frozen pipe burst. Students were greeted not by the solace of their modest abodes, but a flood allegedly mixed with sewage. "This is something you should see in movies or something- some crazy flooding," Seattle University senior Johnny Smith recounted to KOMO News. However, a Seattle University spokesperson later clarified that sewage was not involved in the incident, ensuring the water did not require treatment for sewage content.
Elsewhere in the city's Greenwood neighborhood, the popular hockey haunt, The Angry Beaver, suffered its own watery fate. After enduring a weekend with no water and frozen pipes, the establishment faced a devastating flood early Monday, according to a KOMO News report. The water main finally gave in, inundating the locale that once vibrated with cheers for Kraken matches. "If it wasn’t so sad, it would be funny but we will be closed indefinitely," The Angry Beaver lamented on Facebook.
The cascade of closures and watery woes were accentuated by the response of Seattle fire crews, who tackled more than 175 calls for pipe bursts from Friday to Monday. In the local education sphere, Redmond saw its own share of soggy despair, with crews working to sop up the flooded classrooms at Dickinson and Wilder Elementary schools. As the thaw sets in, residents and business owners alike confront the aftermath of a freeze that left nothing but chaos in its wintry wake.
