It was around 10:30 p.m. Feb. 14 when Esperanza Hall residents noticed it was snowing on campus. History sophomore John Perales said he saw other parts of San Antonio getting snow and when he looked outside, snow was falling at Texas A&M University-San Antonio.
“I just felt like a kid again,” Perales said. “I just went outside and rolled around.”
Students living at A&M-San Antonio enjoyed the snow, but faced relatively minor issues, such as the loss of hot water, while the majority of the city lost power and water for almost three days.
Dr. Mari Fuentes-Martin, vice president of student success and engagement, said about 90 students were staying on campus during the snowstorm. She said the only issue the dorms experienced was the loss of hot water.
The hot water absence started Monday afternoon and ended Wednesday afternoon when the boiler in the dorms was fixed, Fuentes-Martin said.
Perales said Esperanza Hall gave students pointers on how to boil water and face the cold during the snowstorm through pamphlets and papers left around the dorms.
Students had to deal with cold showers but Perales said the lack of hot water wasn’t a huge issue for him. After water became a concern, the hall was able to find safe drinking water for students on campus.
Fuentes-Martin said after calling division directors to find drinkable water, they were able to provide about eight cases of drinking water from offices on campus to dorm residents. Students also bought drinking water from Chartwells, which was open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Some students, like biology sophomore Teresa Hernandez, took to other resources such as boiling water in a kettle to get drinking water. She said this was the only issue she experienced living on campus during the snowstorm.
“Everything was quite well compared to like other cities,” Hernandez said.
