Flood woes were preventable

editorial cartoon by Michael Escañuelas
editorial cartoon by Michael Escañuelas

The flooding from recent rainstorms has been a burden on both students and staff. Flooding and water intrusion spanned across the campus from Brandt Hall to the Arts and Communications Building.

Furniture in the Brandt lounge, carpet tiles and all, fell victim to the merciless storm. With better preparation, such damage probably could have been avoided.

Although storms are unpredictable, preparations such as the unclogging of drainage pipes in buildings across campus should have been done. Facilities management staff said that housekeeping and campus safety worked swiftly after the flooding had already drenched many of the buildings.

However, they could have avoided using dehumidifiers and other pricey cleanup procedures if they had acted swiftly and productively before the storm arrived.

Some say that the strong water current caused by the rain was the cause of the clogging of the pipes.

They should have gone to check the pipes before the storm began.

A couple of weeks ago there were some windy days, when debris could have been pushed into the drains.

The facilities management should have thoroughly checked each drain as an extra precaution. Especially since a tree root was the cause of a drain clog in Brandt.

The tree root must have been there before the strong currents of the rain began.

The total cleanup cost was less than $500 in employee overtime and the fees for the rental equipment used to dry the wet areas.

But damages to property such as papers and photos, are harder to quantify.

If ULV continues to neglect and prepare for such events and storms, the cost will likely go up. We would rather see that money be used for things the school and students can benefit from.

If maintenance had not deferred attention to the drains, many workers from facilities management, housekeeping and campus safety would have not had to work the entire night and into the early morning cleaning up the mess.

We appreciate the quick action taken by facilities management and housekeeping to dry the carpets with dehumidifiers and carpet-drying fans, and using a special enzyme cleaner that eats up bacteria to eliminate bad smells that mildew and excess moisture leave behind.

However, maintenance has had these types of issues before. In 2003, there was flooding in the ACB and Founders Hall.

Though not to knock all maintenance decisions, facilities management seems to have done a good job keeping roofs in good shape across campus.

Hence some leakage has been reduced in recent years.

We believe those charged with maintaining campus structures should as they have tended to the roofs, take care to clean out the drainage pipes as well.

Heavy rains are not the only thing that cause clogged the drains. winds and mischievous children dumping various objects into the drains can also be the cause of the clogging.

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Unsigned editorials represent the opinion of the Campus Times Editorial Board.

Michael Escañuelas, Editorial Cartoonist
Michael Escañuelas

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