With the stress of charging computers and finding a warm shower, students may have forgotten that many UD faculty were in the same boat they were during the blackout.

Brother Raymond Fitz, political science professor and former UD president, and Dr. Paul Vanderburgh, professor and chair of health and sports science, were affected by the storm's power outages.

Fitz lives in the Marianist brothers' house on Stonemill and returned from a trip Sunday afternoon to find his power was out, but his hopes for regular Monday classes were not lost.

"I finally heard there was power on campus, so I came to my office and did work until about 10:30 p.m. and went home," Fitz said.

Vanderburgh, an Oakwood resident, said the aftermath of the storm was so intense that it looked like "a war zone." His home didn't have power after a tree fell onto a nearby power line, knocking over the pole.

The streets of Oakwood and around UD were hit hard but it wasn't a major problem for most faculty trying to make it to work. Reports of severe damages have been rare.

"It wasn't difficult for people to get to work as much as it would be difficult to leave a house with a tree sitting on it, a hole in the roof, or a smashed window," Vanderburgh said. "I think for the faculty, most of their houses did OK. Most everyone lost power, but people are gradually getting it back."

Fitz and the Marianist brothers did experience a few minor problems at their Stonemill house. One tree, planted for Fitz by Residential Services when he stepped down as president, was knocked over in their yard. Their daily morning prayer service was also cancelled because there was no light.

But a little windstorm wasn't enough to ruin a day of teaching for Fitz. He even started Monday morning with a 6 a.m. workout.

"I think because all the power was on throughout the main campus that it was the right thing to do to have classes," Fitz said. "And if faculty or students couldn't make it because of circumstances off campus, then that would be taken into consideration."

Despite students' grumbling about school being open, Vanderburgh was impressed with the high level of attendance in his class.

"We had really good attendances, both faculty and students," Vanderburgh said. "Understandably though, the students who had gone through shower lines or had trouble finding outlets were a little bit unhappy Monday. Even though it's only been a few days, it is getting old."

While any student without power probably agrees with Vanderburgh, the bright side to this is being certain that power will return.

"If you've travelled overseas and been to places like Africa and India, power going out at night is not an unusual thing," Fitz said. "So you learn to cope with it, and it's not such a big deal. You can cope without power; just make sure to have a flashlight."