While university staff and facility crews worked to get the campus up and running after a week of severe winter weather, the city and county governments were busy making the area outside of campus safe for citizens and travelers, while businesses decided whether or not to stay open.
Starting Sunday, Jan. 14, snow, ice and low temperatures hit Oxford and much of the Mid-South causing unsafe road conditions and damage to critical infrastructure. In Mississippi, 29 injuries and 12 deaths have been reported to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency since Jan. 14.
While the weather took many citizens by surprise, emergency management services knew about the potential for inclement weather in advance and had time to make preparations.
According to Beau Moore, public relations officer for the county, Lafayette County Emergency Management knew about the chances for weather a week out and learned of the scale of impact a couple of days in advance, giving them time to treat roads.
Instead of receiving fluffy snow, which was forecasted by the National Weather Service in Memphis, Oxford received sleet and ice that developed into a 3- to 4-inch ice sheet in some areas that could not be cleared by snow plows from the Mississippi Department of Transportation, Moore said.
A local emergency was declared in response to road conditions on Jan. 18, and throughout the week citizens were encouraged by Lafayette County and the City of Oxford not to leave their homes unless necessary.
Between Jan. 15 and Jan. 22 the Oxford Police Department responded to 46 wrecks and 265 motorists requesting assistance.
“Everyone has been very patient,” Moore said. “There’s enough county road in Lafayette County to stretch from Oxford to Chicago if it was set end on end. It’s just a slow process.”
While residents were encouraged to keep off the roads, there were still businesses open in Oxford and the surrounding county.
Many that remained open were essential businesses, defined as a service necessary to maintain public health and safety.
Grocery stores such as Kroger and Walmart reportedly experienced high volumes of sales in the lead up to the weather and stock shortages throughout the week. Many shoppers took to social media to post photos of empty shelves at both locations.
The Daily Mississippian reached out to both stores for comment, but was unable to get a response.
While The Pantry of Oxford and Lafayette County was closed, Mayor Robyn Tannehill posted on X, formerly Twitter, the location of Little Free Pantries around town that were stocked by volunteers.
Some nonessential businesses also decided to keep their doors open.
Among them, The Library Sports Bar. Employee safety and availability was the primary factor considered in their decision to open, said manager Taylor Cruse.
“I want to stress you know, we certainly did not make anybody come to work that was uncomfortable or felt like they were unsafe,” Cruse said. “We left it up to each individual person to determine that for themselves and then went from there.”
Despite working with a “skeleton staff” and many employees working in new positions, the bar stayed busy with a particularly strong turn out on weekends, Cruse said.
“People get stir crazy and with a lot of the student population living within walking distance to the Square, attendance is usually pretty good (during snow days),” Cruse said.
Common Ground Coffee Bar was also open.
“We have a lot of law enforcement and medical staff that still have to work every day, no matter what,” owner Joseph Beck said. “It’s not about money. It’s just being there for those people who are continuously there for us.”
Beck said that while some employees were able to make it to work on their own, he picked up and dropped off those who could not drive themselves.
As of Saturday, Jan. 20 Tannehill posted on X that businesses were beginning to open, and she encouraged residents to come out and support them.
“We want to thank everybody from the road crews and street department to the other essential workers out there for all of the hours they put into helping our community,” Breck Jones, public information officer for OPD, said. “It was a true team effort from the top down with everybody pulling the rope in the same direction.”
