So that was a lot of rain.
According to the Eureka office of the National Weather Service, Arcata bore the brunt of the storm with some 2 inches of rain coming down in one hour. The record for the day was 1.45 inches (in Eureka) set back in 1977.
The deluge left flooded streets and water damage at Humboldt State University in its wake — along with a healthy dose of thunder and lightning.
“Facilities Maintenance staff was on site well into the evening dealing with the impacts,” a campus message states. “We may continue to see impacts as the water continues to seep into other locations, both at the facilities we addressed last night as well as others beyond the immediate flood path.”
The rest of the week is expected to be warmer and drier (possible showers on Sunday), according to the NWS.
Read the HSU campus message below:
Yesterday evening, shortly after 5:00 pm, the campus was hit with a deluge of water spanning approximately 45 minutes. The volume of water experienced in this short time period impacted several of our buildings.
Facilities Maintenance staff was on site well into the evening dealing with the impacts. We may continue to see impacts as the water continues to seep into other locations, both at the facilities we addressed last night as well as others beyond the immediate flood path.
We are inspecting all facilities today, but encourage you to report any water-related issues to Facilities Work Control, x4475, or email fmservice@humboldt.edu. If you send an email, please include “9/18 flash flood water damage” in the subject line.
To give you a sense of the scope of this incident, below is a list of the buildings that experienced some form of water damage last night. All the areas noted were addressed last night and are ready for use.
• Gist Hall – computer lab 215 and 1st floor
• Theatre Arts – stage and several offices
• Toddler Room at Childcare Center – flooded
• Science B – Rooms 133 and 135
• Science A, 3rd floor connecting corridor – ceiling flooded, shut off power to prevent further damage to light fixtures and structure, power restored after water subsided
• Science A entry way
• Facilities Maintenance – major flooding in front parking area, blocked egress from front door, water level approximately 12” above threshold after sandbags placed
• Rec and Wellness Center – minor flooding at entry way
• SBS – leak in hallway at west stairwell
• Natural Resources – minor water infiltration at lower level
• SERC – minor water infiltration at Rooms 103 and 206
• Jenkins Hall – minor ponding at lower level
• UC Mechanical Room – minor ponding
• Nelson Hall – minor ponding at air handling/mechanical room
• Housing – 2 flooded rooms in Cypress, residents relocated
• Founders Hall, minor ponding at elevator machine room, ¼” standing water at mechanical rooms and transformer room
• Redwood Bowl – drain at west bleachers adjacent to concrete wall plugged, flooding of adjacent track area subsided as of 6:40 pm
This article appears in Coming Full Circle.
