Flash Flooding at UHA

The River that runs through campus has flooded once again. And though this happens like every week, this time, flash flooding has claimed more than thirty cars. Public safety, which normally sends out an email to students to move their cars well before flooding occurs, did not do so, and notification was not given to students until 7:30 am in the form of an email. Most students were asleep, and the few who were awake would have been on their way to class.

The road leading around campus has likely been completely destroyed.

I myself woke up around 10 to find pictures of the flooding on facebook. I thought, “when are these from?” I look, and they were posted 36 minutes before my waking. Oh dear. My car is/was in that flooded lot. I quickly rushed to the lot to see if my car had been claimed by the river. I made my way around police barricades and saw that my car was not yet under water. An officer took down my ID number and license plate and advised me on the best route to get my car out of the lot. I had just enough of a lane behind me to back my car out of the space, and out of the lot.

Though the water has receded some, it still covers most of the lot.

Here are some pictures that I took after I had moved my car to safety. Though the water was higher earlier in the day, these pictures are still impressive. When I was there moving my car, the water was completely covering the windows of the vehicles near the bottom of the lot, and was lapping at their roofs. I overheard one girl on the phone, whose car had been taken by the river, that the school is offering counseling to students who lost their cars in the flood.

The river has carved itself a new path, up and over the parking lot

I also heard from a commuter student that part of the road outside of campus, but leading to campus had been washed away, causing huge detours and traffic. Several classes were cancelled this morning because professors could not make it to campus.