Lakehead Orillia Rallied Together When the 2025 Ice Storm Hit
A catastrophic ice storm descended upon central Ontario during the final week of classes at Lakehead—forcing the City of Orillia, the County of Simcoe, and surrounding municipalities to declare a state of emergency. What happened next was a testament to the resilience and ingenuity of Lakehead students, faculty, and staff.
"One morning, I drove past closed roads covered with trees and power lines looking for gas for my home generator," Dr. Chris Glover says. "The devastation was shocking, and so was the eerie quietness. It was like a scene from an apocalyptic show like The Walking Dead." Video Courtesy of Shinomedia
"Everything was fine on March 28 and then things started to fall apart," says Lakehead Orillia Principal Dr. Linda Rodenburg. "I activated our emergency response group as soon as I realized that it would present a serious academic challenge as well as a major weather event. Our approach was to communicate as much as possible and recognize that people were experiencing diverse situations."
Freezing rain rapidly encrusted trees with ice, causing them to crack and fall on power lines. Electricity was cut to the Orillia campus, homes, schools, and businesses across the region—leaving people without heat, power, and water.
"Our priority was keeping students safe, secure, and fed," Dr. Chris Glover says. Orillia Security Services manager T-Bird Prisciak was one of many who stepped up, even finding time to bring a laptop and Tim Horton's coffee and doughnuts to a faculty member trapped in their home by a downed power line in their yard. Photo Credit: Shinomedia
"There were a lot of hardships at once," Dr. Rodenburg says, whose own home lost power. "Damage to property and cars, and food going bad at a time of high grocery costs. The sewage plant also caught fire."
Despite the unfolding crisis, Dr. Rodenburg says that "people immediately came together to help each other. I knew that our community would be amazing, and they were."
"There was a chat group where people offered assistance and things like hot showers," adds Orillia Associate Vice-President Dr. Chris Glover. "Faculty and staff were doing wellness checks to see if people were okay, and LUSU students kept the campus food bank open."
Dr. Glover's greatest concern was for students in residence, even though he was contending with his house being flooded.
"How do we feed students when we can't use the kitchen to cook hot meals?" he says. "The campus had generators that kept refrigerators and freezers running, but not generators to operate the hood fans necessary for cooking on our gas stoves."
His worry was soon eased by Lakehead's food-services provider, who quickly began serving cold breakfasts and lunches. "Dana Hospitality and our cafeteria staff went above and beyond," Dr. Rodenburg says.
And without Lakehead's stellar security and residence life teams, the situation would have been much worse.
"Security immediately rushed to Home Depot and bought charging cords and devices for their office in Simcoe Hall, which has a back-up power system. The staff on campus worked together to ensure that students could power their electronic and medical devices and stay in touch with loved ones," Dr. Glover says.
"I want to thank our Thunder Bay team members who checked in with the Orillia team, offered support, and helped with their workloads," Dr. Rodenburg says. Photo Credit: Shinomedia
Fortunately, power was restored to campus after 32 hours, turning it into a haven where faculty, staff, and their families could have a meal and warm up. "The morning the power came back on at my house, I baked 50 cookies and handed them out to people on campus, and I got 50 different stories about the storm," Dr. Rodenburg says.
The campus was a stark contrast to the city and region itself, much of which remained without power for 13 days. "As Simcoe County continues to clean up after the storm," Dr. Rodenburg says, "I want to thank everyone for responding with grace, patience, and gratitude." Dr. Glover is in total agreement. "I'm incredibly thankful to be part of the Lakehead Orillia community."
The video and photos in this story were taken by Shinowa Okumura, a fourth-year Honours Bachelor of Arts and Science in Media Studies student who is graduating this June.