Between Hurricane Irene’s arrival at the start of the semester and last week’s record-breaking rainfall, at least 10 buildings on the campus have suffered roof damage and university officials are working to keep the problem at bay.
Facilities Management staff are now faced with more than 100 complaints of water damage in numerous buildings across the campus and are scrambling to bring buildings back to their original, much drier states.
Water gathered in pools on rooftops and saturated the ground around H.J. Patterson Hall, the Biology-Psychology building, the Mathematics building, the Art-Sociology building and several other buildings along McKeldin Mall, causing the roofs to leak and water to seep into classrooms and workspaces.
“Between the earthquake, hurricane and torrential downpour, it’s been a pretty hectic couple weeks,” Director of Operations and Maintenance for Facilities Management Jack Baker said.
But Baker said these repairs won’t make a dent in the department’s allocated budget, noting these were routine maintenance repairs already.
The damages aren’t a result of poor building structure, Baker said, but because of the unexpected, one-two punch of a hurricane and heavy downpour, most buildings aren’t built for the unrelenting weather.
“When you get five to six inches of rain in a short period of time, there’s a number of leaks that [needed to be] chased,” he said.
According to Baker, water carried debris to the bottom of stairwells and heavy rainfall resulted in pools on top of buildings, which led to drain blockages. The rain also leaked into louvres — metal objects that allow air to be pulled into buildings — sprouting leaks in various buildings.
He added Facilities Management staff worked tirelessly throughout the downpour last week to repair the damages as they occurred by hiring roofing contractors to fix the leaks.
“During the heavy rainstorms, folks were literally running around campus dealing with leaks,” Baker said.
Several students said the building leaks were interfering with their schoolwork, including studio art graduate student Pat McGowan, who said the water poses a threat to his artwork and expensive equipment in the Art-Sociology building.
“A couple of my friends’ studios [are leaking], and it’s an aggravation,” McGowan said. “You have to have huge garbage cans in your studio, in the way, and it’s a huge hassle. And that’s just one of the 2,000 things that’s wrong with this building.”
But some have acknowledged Facilities Management’s efforts and said although the repairs have been small, they’re noticeable.
Studio art professor Richard Klank said the building maintenance prevented his classroom on the top floor of the Art-Sociology building from suffering damage.
“You could come in a rainstorm and see puddles all over the floor,” he said. “But, evidently, they’ve done work.”
Staff writer Rebecca Lurye contributed to this report.
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