-------- 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. > > > > >_______________________________________________ >Waml mailing list >[log in to unmask] >http://mailman.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/waml 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