In Newark, Continental Airlines officials were advising passengers whose flights had been canceled to seek train, bus or rental car transportation. The combination of the weather and holiday crowds made confirmed seats to some New England cities unavailable until Tuesday morning, even for those who had beenconfirmed on Sunday's flights, airline officialssaid.

Students whose planes finally made it to Bostonfound themselves roughing the weather to return totheir rooms.

"It's never been this bad. To put it mildly, itsucks. And I have to go back to Garden Street,"said Eugene Chiu '97, who was lugging a suitcasethrough the flooded paths of the Yard yesterdayafternoon.

Puddles were as deep as six inches alongMassachusetts Avenue yesterday. Beneath ThayerGate was a small lake of mud. Torrents of waterinundated the catch-basins, which were incapableof handling the two inches of rainfall that hadfallen in just two hours.

Gusts of wind blew garbage bags and loose trashacross the Yard, and even the Christmas treeoutside the Inn at Harvard appeared ready totopple over.

Not everyone, however, was dismayed by thedeluge. "It's quite pleasant out here," saidCambridge resident Chris Raphael, who was walkinghis Golden Retriever along the swelling CharlesRiver.

"I'm delighted to be out," Raphael said.

Barefoot and clad in shorts and a T-shirt,Edward Y. Park '97 said he was making the most ofthe storm.

"I love rain. I wish it were raining harderright now," he said before sprinting off acrossthe Yard.

But most students just stayed in the warmcomfort of their rooms. The Yard, streetssurrounding the river houses, and the Square wereall deserted.

Large puddles created traffic confusion onMemorial Drive. Cars converged into one lane.

Students returning by car said conditions onthe highway were also poor.

James C. McPartland '96 said he spent nearlysix hours driving on slippery roads from LongIsland to Cambridge with Kenneth A. Caplan '95.

"On the highway you'd hit a puddle and feel thecar sliding around," McPartland said. "There washydroplaning everywhere."

McPartland said Caplan averaged 33 miles perhour driving from New York to New Jersey.PhotoAng ShiThe rain kept most people indoorsyesterday.