Hi Mitch,
 
You have been predicting severe weather conditions.  Here's a message I received from a friend.  The place mentioned is 200
miles north of New Delhi in the foothills of the Himalayas.  I used to go to boarding school there.
 
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In case you had not heard about the severe weather in Mussoorie.  An email message from Sharon Seto.
 
Sharon Seto is now the Development officer for Woodstock School, an International boarding school in the Himalayas.
 
Dear Friends of the Development Office,

I generally stay away from form letters, but want to get out some news to all of you.  We have been going through a bit of a rough time here, and between it all, haven't been able to communicate as well as I should.

On Feb. 11th - 12th, two days after the opening of school, the hillside received 3-4 feet of snow in 36 hours.  Incredibly beautiful, but devastating to the infrastructure and the forest itself.  Every tree in the nallahs around the school suffered major damage-the oak trees in particular snapped off branches or their entire tops like matchsticks under the weight of snow.  This is supposedly the worst snowfall in 25 years.

There were four major trees across the road between school and Southhill, and every power pole either fell over or was bent in half.  No road access, of course, no power, no water, no phones, gutters falling in the Quad, low wood and propane, etc. supplies.  The school generator has provided limited power for school and dorms, and the dorms got power restored last night, but we staff are a bit travel-weary by now, after 14 days of no power.  Candlelight is not romantic after about the 5th night, and I can't wait for a shower!  We were cut off from vehicular traffic for 5 days, and the power is so delayed because poles are down all the way to Kingcraig.  I wonder how the villagers are doing.  Visitors stuck here that had to walk out to Kincraig, children arriving late that had to walk in.  School closed on the Friday, but with major emergency management, we functioned, and continue to function.

Mr. Lal, Mira Jain have had mild cases, too, and the water problem has made for stomach flus, etc.  But...the sun is out, and has been for the past 5 days, so the snow is slowly melting.  Repairs are proceeding.  We have enough firewood from all of the debris to last a year.  The Community Center has opened and is a thriving little dorm.  Successes abound.  Most of the staff have recuperated from the various colds/flus/stomach problems that came with the snow.  Another war story to tell!  Come back, and perhaps we can give you a repeat performance!

No other real news-lots of work, good work, and not quite enough laughter, but we're working on it!

Keep in touch, and lots of love, Sharon
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That has never happened before!  They do get lots of snow in ther winter, but not usually this late or this severe.
 
Rachel