Meal Hall Response to Hurricane Fiona

Hurricane Fiona significantly affected StFX, creating a long-term power outage and damage across campus. Throughout this time, many campus services closed; however, Morrison Hall remained open, providing students with food and electricity. Though these services seem simplistic to students in everyday circumstances, the hurricane brought many difficulties in presenting them. In an interview with Tim Hierlihy, the general manager, Debbie Kopf, a chef on staff, and Kris Benoit, the residence dining manager, these struggles were further explained.

Morrison Hall has faced hurricanes before, but Fiona proved to be the most challenging. Benoit shared that the team is “always somewhat prepared [for the hurricane], but when it actually comes down to it, you start to realize how many moving parts are involved.” Some struggles, such as limited supplies and transporting the food, were issues that an outside perspective would overlook. Benoit continued, saying that the duration of the power outage was one of the most significant and unexpected obstacles they faced. Having had to purchase their supplies ahead of time, Benoit shared that he knew they could serve people with what they had for a few days. However, he aired further concerns, saying “you start to get a little worried about if the supplies are going to be able to supplement the extra food that we’re having to serve.”

Benoit, Hierlihy, and Kopf also shared concerns over the number of people they had to serve. Because of limited food access, there were already more students coming to Morrison Hall than on an average day. With the added influx of people from the Antigonish community, the numbers continued to rise. Hierlihy estimated that over 2000 people had come in on Saturday, September 25th, which was the first day following the hurricane. Kopf added that she saw “kids who graduated years ago that were here.” It seemed that anyone who did not have power to cook at home was coming to Morrison Hall for a hot meal. Kopf additionally shared that while there was an increase of people entering meal hall, she was the only one working in the kitchen. The other two staff members had been unable to come in. Hierlihy later added, “factors like limited staff, power outage—all of those things come into play.” He emphasized how their plans had to change with each new element. These experiences have shown them what could occur in future storms, as well as the conditions they could continue to face.

  “[The students] had the three most important things; electricity to charge their devices… a place where they could meet their friends safely, and they had hot food,” Benoit said when asked about student response. All three concurred that, with these in place, the students seemed content with what was provided. However, when asked what the students should know about what occurred, Hierlihy said that he “[doesn’t] think they properly understand the complexity of what was going on to get that to happen.” He shared that the main kitchen, which cooks most of their food, was located downstairs. Without full power, the elevator that usually brought food up to the main level was not working. Two to three people “had to hand-bomb the food up the stairs,” explained Kopf. She also revealed other difficulties, such  as how “the big oven didn’t get wired until 12:30 to 1:00 o’clock, and that’s the only oven we had.” Benoit provided the numbers with which they were working: one of four combination ovens, and one of three deep-frying stations.

Their limited supplies also posed a problem, especially as they reached the second and third days of the power outage. Something as common as ice started to become a concern. “We couldn’t chill down pop, or we couldn’t leave food out for longer than a certain period of time,” Benoit stated, “food had to go into walk-in freezers and fridges.” Hierlihy elaborated on the ice concerns, adding that he “raided every bit of ice on campus that he knew of” before Hurricane Fiona had hit campus. Ice was only one of the many products that had to be stocked prior to the hurricane. Other supplies Hierlihy mentioned included paper plates, cups, and disposable utensils, as he knew that washing so many dishes would not be possible.

Toward the end of the interview, the marketing coordinator Syahrul Anwar Jamaludin joined the conversation and shared the importance of communication during the aftermath of the hurricane. The StFX Campus Food Instagram played a crucial role in informing the students about what was available; students are advised to follow the account as storm season approaches. The account later made a post with a thanks to the staff, which many students and families have commented on to express their own appreciation.

Hierlihy ended the interview with a thanks himself. He wanted to voice his gratitude to “the partners around the university and the students. Everybody’s cooperation during that time went a long way.” Benoit also wanted to remind students that although future storms may cancel classes, “the staff are still taking a huge risk coming to work every day to provide food service,” and to recognize this importance. Despite the difficulties that Hurricane Fiona presented for the dining hall staff, they successfully pulled through and provided students with all they possibly could.