Heavy rain washes out football field, knocks out power to Psychology Building and floods campus

As more hard rain and flooding devastated much of Central Indiana, IU officials are still uncertain about the extent of the damage caused by last week’s flash floods on campus. The rapid gush of water washed out the IU football field and provoked power outages, flooded buildings and temporarily closed off major roadways on and around campus.\nSally Letsinger, a hydrogeologist at the Indiana Geological Survey, said the volume of water seen in June 4’s flash flood makes it worthy to be classified as a 100-year flood. That is to say, a flood this severe is likely only to occur once every 100 years. Increased development, which creates impervious areas with concrete, hinders proper drainage of rainwater, she said.\nAfter the floodwater receded, Gov. Mitch Daniels declared Monroe and several neighboring counties disaster areas.\nHowever, despite the surge in water, no injuries or deaths were reported in Bloomington or Monroe County, public-safety officials said.\nIt will be months before the University can assess the full extent of the damage on campus, said Larry Stephens, director of the IU Office of Risk Management. The Psychology Building and Memorial Stadium were hit the hardest.\nPart of the field at Memorial Stadium was washed away by the floods. Experts are scheduled to arrive on Tuesday to inspect the damage, Stephens said. Repairs will likely cost $50,000 to $250,000, he added. However, other news outlets have reported that the repair bill could well exceed that figure.\nThe Psychology Building sustained both flooding and a power outage. The power outage is causing the greatest amount of concern, Linda Smith, the chair of the Psychological and Brain Sciences Department, said in an e-mail.\nSome temperature-sensitive research material was moved to freezers and refrigerators in other buildings on campus, while others remain in the Psychology Building freezers, powered by generators. Damage to the material cannot be assessed until the building’s power is restored.\nThe flooding of the sub-basement, which houses the electrical vault, is preventing workers from restoring power to the building before all the water is cleared. It is hopeful, yet uncertain, that power will be restored to the building by Monday.\nFor this reason, all classes that are normally held in the Psychology Building have been moved to other facilities.\nThe School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation Complex suffered extensive flooding coupled with a power outage, but a swift response prevented any serious damage.\nWith the help of the Physical Plant and Office of Risk Management workers, cleanup was completed by 8 p.m. Wednesday, said John Pedersen, facility support director for Campus Recreational Sports.\n“It’s like the old adage, many hands make light work,” he said.\nMelissa Boyken, an undergraduate in the School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, said she could not get to her car when she left work at about 5 p.m. June 4. Boyken was also one of many students who have classes located in the Psychology Building. \n“It was like a river in the parking lot,” she said.\nSenior Bob Koyama said he watched people swimming in Jordan River, which swelled its banks with the surge of rainwater.\n“There were people swimming in (the floodwater) just to show how deep it was,” said Elly Romer, staff member with IU Disability Services for Students.\nThe IU Police Department was so riddled with phone calls and traffic problems that supervisors had to call in extra officers.\nIUPD Capt. Jerry Minger said the department received about 80 emergency calls Wednesday afternoon due to the flood. Lightning strikes on buildings tripped several fire and security alarms, which only increased officers’ workload.\n“Third Street was impassible; officers had to reroute traffic,” Minger said.\nBut, IUPD received no reports of injuries.\nRoger Kerr, chief of the Bloomington Fire Department, said firefighters were busy for about an hour and a half after the flood. Most of that time was spent rescuing stranded motorists and responding to alarms tripped by lightning strikes. One woman was trapped briefly in the elevator of a building on McIntyre Drive. No injuries were reported.\nThe Bloomington Fire Department Station itself had been swamped with water and firefighters had several hours of cleanup to do after their return from aiding the community.\nMonroe County Sheriff’s Deputies spent most of their time attending to major disruptions to roadways, said Chief Deputy Scott Mellinger. Traffic was backed up in many areas due to flooding, downed power lines and trees and shorted-out traffic lights.\nMonroe County was overcome by power outages. Dawn Horth, a spokesperson for Duke Energy said that 11,180 customers had a loss of power June 4, but by Friday everyone’s power had been restored.\nAndy Walter, owner of Tracks Music & Videos on Kirkwood Avenue, said about 3,000 vinyl records from his inventory were damaged. He put them all outside the night of June 4 after the water subsided to be taken for free.\nThe Boys and Girls Club, near Third and Lincoln streets, was inundated while nearly all of the children were waiting for their parents. Ryon Wheeler, the program director, said many of the staff members’ vehicles were totaled by water damage.\n“The kids did surprisingly well. The older kids were asking what they could do to help,” he said.