-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Hawaii Flood Chronology
Date: Tue, 09 Nov 2004 13:34:44 -0800
From: Julie Sweetkind-Singer <[log in to unmask]>
To: Maps-L <[log in to unmask]>

------------------
Hi all,

The latest update from Mabel.

Julie


>Date: Tue, 09 Nov 2004 00:47:40 -0800
>From: Mabel Suzuki <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: [Waml] Chronology, trying again
>
>
>Chronology of Flood Events at the University of Hawaii at Manoa
>
>At approximately 8:00 p.m. Saturday, October 30th, a flash flood ripped
>through the Manoa campus.  Upper Manoa Valley had received about 9
>inches of rain in a 6 hour period which washed trees and debris into
>Manoa Stream, forming a dam under the Woodlawn Bridge near Manoa
>marketplace.  Flood waters flowed down Woodlawn past the Institute for
>Astronomy, and a 4 ft. wall of water hit the Biomedical Sciences
>building.  Along with Biomed, The physical plant buildings, the PBRC,
>Ag Science and adjoining warehouse were flooded.  The Institute for
>Biogenesis and first floor of Biomed were inundated with water over the
>tops of lab benches and the auditorium flooded.  The main transformer
>blew at that point melting the main electrical supply cable to the
>electrical substation, and setting off sprinklers on the first floor.
>Power to 4 circuits on campus affecting 35 buildings went out at that
>point.
>
>Pope, Sherman and St. John's were next in the path and flooding on
>Maile Way threw cars across the median depositing mud in its path.
>Hamilton Library Phases 1 and 2 were hit next.  Their basements were
>completely flooded to the ceilings, tearing out walls and wiring and
>destroying the collections, books and periodicals housed there.  In the
>worst parts of the flood path landscape was gouged out and large holes
>were tunneled into the ground. The flood proceeded to inundate Gilmore,
>Edmondson, and Snyder, flowing across McCarthy Mall to next hit the
>first floor of Keller (where IT is located), Bilger Hall and Physical
>Sciences.   Damage to the power grid and Keller knocked out our IT
>capabilities which were later restored by an external power generator.
>
>Next in the path of mud and water were HIG, Sakamaki, Art, the John
>Young Museum and Krauss Hall where a number of teaching facilities were
>impacted.  The flood crossed Dole, carrying debris and remnants of the
>library collections into the parking structure and the athletics
>facility where it knocked out a generator, and created significant
>water damage to office and study areas.  Power was also lost to a
>number of dorms for several hours but was restored by 11 p.m. in all
>but 2 of the upper campus dorms which received emergency generator
>power the following day. Elevator services to dorms was restored by the
>next day. The Kanewai Cultural Garden in Hawaiian Studies was also
>flooded, with potential loss of several taro species.
>
>In all, power was interrupted to 35 buildings, with Agricultural
>Science, Biomedical Sciences, Sherman Hall and Hamilton Library
>sustaining enough infrastructure damage to require isolation from the
>main circuits, before the rest of the campus could be powered up
>again.  The next day, management team meetings were held every three
>hours to address emergency and repair situations.  Emergency needs of
>critical research and animal care areas were of paramount concern,
>while 3000 pounds of dry ice was distributed to preserve samples and
>other materials that needed to be kept cold or frozen.  The quick
>response of faculty and administration helped to stabilize the campus
>limit loses and restore operations in a timely fashion.  Cleanup
>proceeded with faculty, students and community volunteers all pitching
>in.  Library collections were placed in freezer trucks supplied by
>Matson and Horizon Lines, so they could be preserved.  Humidity
>problems and mold blooms were addressed by removing wet and muddy
>carpet and with dehumidifiers and fans, but these had limited
>effectiveness in buildings that lacked power and AC.
>
>Plans were developed to relocate classes from chronically affected
>facilities and by Wednesday morning power was restored to all but 5
>buildings, allowing 99+% of classes to resume Thursday.  Over 120
>classes from the 5 most impacted buildings were relocated and the
>schedule was posted on the web for public access.  By Friday 100% of
>classes had been scheduled for the duration of the semester.
>
>Temporary offices and accommodations for research faculty to alternate
>sites are currently a high priority while plans to restore the
>operational environment are ongoing.  Mold has been a continuing
>problem with abatement a high priority in areas that did not receive
>high priority during the immediate recovery.  Rains the following
>weekend knocked power out again, requiring further emergency services
>for research areas, and emergency generation for several facilities on
>campus.  A specialist disaster remediation team will be in place
>sometime over the weekend to help manage the power, humidity and AC in
>the 4 isolated buildings.  The spirit of aloha is alive and well on
>campus, as units that were little impacted continue to offer space and
>support to colleagues from the most affected units, while food services
>is helping to feed the army of volunteers that has been helping us
>clean up.  To all the security team, facilities team, administrative
>leadership team, faculty, staff, students and volunteers who helped get
>the campus back up and running, Mahalo Nui Loa.
>
>Additional information and photos are available at
>http://www.hawaii.edu/ala/flood.php.
>
>
>
>
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Julie Sweetkind-Singer
Head Librarian; GIS & Map Librarian
Branner Earth Sciences Library & Map Collections
397 Panama Mall, M/C 2211
Stanford University
Stanford, CA  94305
[log in to unmask]
Phone:  650-725-1102