Snow storm traps 12 Houston students in Washington D.C.

WASHINGTON (KTRK) -- Twelve students from Houston are among those trapped by the powerful blizzard which covered the East Coast with ice and snow.

The senior class of the Incarnate Word Academy was in Washington D.C. for Close Up, a program exploring power and policy in the nation's capital.

But just as the students were set to come home, the city was hit by an arctic assault.

Caroline Luera and Hannah Tello of Houston's Incarnate Word Academy.

"We were supposed to come home at 5pm yesterday," says Leslie Flickinger, dean of students at Incarnate Word Academy. "There were 660 students here for the program, but now we've had to consolidate between two hotels, I think."

Since their flight cancellation, some 17 inches of snow has fallen outside of their hotel. Fortunately, they never lost electricity, keeping warm inside their rooms.

Flickinger says by the girls were able to relieve some cabin fever by dawn, many playing in real snow for the very first time.

Jhena Patriarca and Mikaela Rey of Houston's Incarnate Word Academy.

"They're allowed to go straight outside the front doors of the hotel, and that's it," Flickinger told abc13, with a laugh.

All laughing aside, there is still much uncertainty as to what will happen next. The dean says she's heard the D.C. area could expect as much as two to 10 more inches of snow through the day and overnight.

"We are tentatively scheduled to get out of here late Monday," Flickinger says. "That's if everything clears."

If.