Tropical Storm Rocks D’Avray Hall

It’s been an odd winter, to say the least. As most people will have noticed, temperatures this winter have been unusually high, which usually would not be anything to complain about. However, when a cold front meets a warm front, tropical storms tend to appear as UNB Fredericton’s Marshall D’Avray Hall found out on Tuesday, December 19th.

Almost one week before Christmas, the Maritimes were hit with one of the worst tropical windstorms that the area has seen in a while, with speeds up to 120 km/hr. The storm caused flooding, blackouts, and countless amounts of property damage to almost all of Nova Scotia, parts of PEI, and most of southern New Brunswick. Fredericton was no exception. As families hunkered down and wind torrents overtook the city, one building in particular fell victim to the gales: UNB Fredericton’s very own Marshall D’Avray Hall.

A CTV reported, “The damage is widespread, the high winds and heavy rain caused significant damage to the roof of Marshall D’Avray Hall. Large chunks of debris are scattered around campus ground. UNB says the integrity of the roof is sound and the building is open, but some traffic is restricted as crews clean up.”

The damage to the roof was significant, but it could have been a lot worse. Though the tropical storm left UNB with quite a mess to clean up, the larger concern may end up being the one that you can’t see.

As the years march on, winters are becoming less predictable. Will it be a winter with 50 centimeters of snow every week or will it be a green winter? Who’s to say? But we as a collective can do our part in correcting climate change. 

UNB Fredericton has recycling bins located throughout campus as well as two E-Recycling bins located on campus as they state on their website:

“UNB has two electronic waste recycling bins on the Fredericton campus to make it easier for the UNB community to dispose of unwanted personal electronic devices, such as smartphones, batteries, and empty printer cartridges. These electronic waste recycling bins can be found at the following locations:

• Outside the ITS department in Head Hall (D level)

• The Harriet Irving Library Commons“

Creating a greener and more sustainable environment can help prevent massive changes in our climate which, in turn, can provide us all with a safer and more comfortable campus. So next time your laptop bites the dust, instead of throwing it in the garbage, check out one of the e-recycling bins! The environment and building roofs on UNB’s campus will thank you for it.