Scattered branches. Pools of water. Droves of first-years following yellow-shirted orientation leaders.

The sun shone brightly on campus yesterday with little noticeable damage other than a few lingering puddles and tree branches strewn about in the wake of the Hurricane-turned-Tropical-Storm Irene.

Other than minor flooding and branches falling, the most significant disruption Irene caused was the cancellation of Sunday move-in activities and the opening of campus on Saturday to new students.

The University was "prepared for the worst" with emergency supplies and "had lined up a lot of people in advance, both in-house help and some contractor support," said Senior Vice President for Administration Mark Collins in an August 29 interview with the Justice.

The basement of the Goldfarb Library flooded with about 5 inches of water on Sunday, but that was immediately taken care of with water pumps and ventilation within about an hour, according to Collins. Although no permanent damage was sustained, "Goldfarb [Library] was our biggest problem, and we had a couple of leaks in the Usdan [Student Center] area," Collins said.

The University administrators first took action to protect students from the impending storm on Thursday afternoon. In an email to new students, Dean of Student Life Rick Sawyer announced that campus would be open to new students on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for those students who wanted to move in ahead of Irene's predicted impact.

On Friday, following the declaration of a State of Emergency by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, Sawyer announced in a campuswide email that no move-in activities would be conducted on Sunday.

"Essential campus services will be operating, including dining. Some activities planned for Sunday will be moved to Monday or another day. Some activities will be canceled.  ...  The emphasis, of course, will be on safety. We will have emergency procedures in place for Sunday if the weather conditions warrant," wrote Sawyer.

According to Assistant Director for Operations and Off-Campus Housing Greg Jones in an interview with the Justice, about 650 new students had arrived on campus by Saturday evening. An additional 200 students were expected to arrive yesterday, said Jones.

Some scheduled activities were simply delayed and relocated such as the New Student Barbecue.

The University also scheduled a pizza party from midnight to 6 a.m. on Monday.

Jeffrey Maser '15, a first-year who took advantage of Saturday move-in, wrote in a Facebook message to the Justice that the ground floor of Reitman Residence Hall experienced about a 1/2 inch of floodwater early Sunday morning.

Maser and his roommate clogged the space under their door with towels and they then found that the water was seeping through the basement door. "It was an absolute waterfall," he wrote.

Facilities Services responded in "a few minutes and were extremely helpful and efficient in attending to the situation. … They went along the hall with a water vacuum and used it to suck up the water beneath all our beds. ... They found the source of the problem, a clogged drain right outside the basement door and handled the problem fully within the hour," wrote Maser.

University President Frederick Lawrence wrote on his blog, Brandeis First, that "Hurricane Irene was no match for the enthusiasm and energy of our newest Brandeisians. … Irene called for flexibility and creativity and our team excelled in both."

Hurricane Irene hit North Carolina first on Saturday and then proceeded up the East Coast, hitting the New York City area, while weakening to a tropical storm, according to The New York Times.

One death was reported in Massachusetts on Monday, while 700,000 residents had no electricity during the height of the storm on Sunday, according to boston.com.

Other areas of the Eastern Seaboard were hit harder with 21 reported deaths and millions without power.