As windchills plunged to more than 30 degrees below zero on Tuesday, schools closed and community organizations scrambled to keep residents safe and warm.
At temperatures that low, frostbite can occur in 10 minutes, said Seth Kutikoff, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Burlington.
Kutikoff described Tuesday’s chill as likely a “one-in-three-year or one-in-five-year event,” and in response, the National Weather Service helped advise Vermont schools on how to handle the freezing temperatures.
The Barre Unified Union School District shut down operations Tuesday, partly due to the cold. Superintendent Chris Hennessey called it a perfect storm of extreme weather, Covid-related staff shortages and high Covid-19 case counts across the district.
Between one-third and one-quarter of staff at the district’s two pre-K-8 schools are missing work due to Covid-19, he said. The staffing shortage at Spaulding High School is only slightly better.
“On a day like this, you can’t bring kids outside, so then it creates big problems in terms of managing what they’re going to do during that time and who’s going to staff it,” Hennessey said.
“This was not just about the cold. It was a convergence of everything.”
South Burlington closed its schools Tuesday as well. Jenn Baudreau, the parent of a second grader who attends Rick Marcotte Central School said they already had a plan given the school closures they have faced over the past two years.
“We pretty quickly defaulted into what we’ve been doing all along in the pandemic with school closures, which is reach out to a friend who also has a kid in school and arrange a ‘childcare playdate,’” Baudreau wrote in an email to VTDigger. “We all work, so it’s helped reduce the stress by taking turns doing the childcare and also by having our kids have a friend to play with.”
Typically, the children play outdoors to minimize the risk of Covid-19 infection, but given Tuesday’s temperatures, Baudreau said the kids played indoors and masked.
State troopers did not encounter any particular cold weather issues, but Vermont State Police spokesperson Adam Silverman reminded residents to keep a cold-weather kit in their car and have plenty of fuel before driving anywhere.
Capstone Community Action, which works in Lamoille, Washington and Orange counties, experienced increased demand for emergency fuel in the past week — a worrying trend before Tuesday’s chill.
“People are finding that between the price of fuel oil, and the fact that they’re running low, that they’re giving us a call because they’re finding themselves in a little bit of trouble,” said Dawn Butterfield, family community support services director at Capstone.
Capstone has performed more than 350 fuel assists across its three-county network this year. The organization receives state and federal funding, as well as donations, to provide that support, Butterfield said.
“There’s been an influx of funds from the feds because of the pandemic,” Butterfield said.
Upper Valley Haven, a White River Junction food bank and homeless shelter, no longer runs its warming shelter due to the risk of Covid-19 transmission.
In past years, the Haven helped Vermonters experiencing homelessness stay in free motel rooms during adverse weather conditions such as extreme cold, according to Michael Redmond, the nonprofit’s executive director. This year, Vermont did away with its old weather requirements, allowing motel accommodations throughout the winter regardless of the weather. The relaxed requirements — ostensibly positive — have had an unexpected consequence: motels are full, and the Haven has not been able to get everyone sheltered during the current cold snap.
“We’re concerned by that. Unfortunately, we don’t have a ready response,” Redmond said.
The Haven provides camping gear and fuel to people who choose to camp as a preference or as a last resort, Redmond said.
