A massive snow storm took down more than 400 trees across campus nearly two years ago.

The storm came so early in the season that the freshly colored leaves didn’t have a chance to fall. The snow piled up on trees which caused the tree branches to snap under pressure.

Parts of campus, including the oval, were temporarily transformed into disaster zones posing a safety hazard to students.

Now, many people are wondering what CSU is doing to stay one step ahead of the storm.

“We show up around 5am,” Luke Webb, a senior in Air Force ROTC, said.

Hours prior to potential snow storms, Air Force ROTC students like Luke Webb are called in for snow patrol.

“We get shovels, buckets of salt and we go around to all the entrances of all the buildings and shovel away, throw some salt down,” Webb said.

CSU’s Facilities Management team has also been gearing up for another harsh winter.

“This year I think we have three new tool cats with brooms on them and then we had to order a new sander,” Fred Haberecht, the Facilities Management Assistant Director, said.

Over the next few weeks, crews will also be out in full force trimming trees.

“We prune the trees for obvious structural deficits. Then we keep our eye to the weather reports,” Haberecht said.

After all, it’s not a matter of “if” but “when” another disaster will strike. And when that day comes, these students and the Facilities Management team are confident they’ll be ready.