Flooded buildings and power outages hits UC Davis ahead of fall quarter
DAVIS — Flooded buildings, power and internet outages, and a downed tree that fell on a building marked the start of the Fall quarter at UC Davis after storms earlier in the week.
Crews continued to clean up the storm damage around campus on Wednesday, including removing large pieces of a sycamore tree on La Rue Road that fell into a cottage near the arboretum headquarters.
Inside the music building, CBS13 spoke with students who said it was a "regular" occurrence to see flooding and water leaks in the building when it rains.
An unofficial duty for those that work in the Music Building, CBS13 learned, is to move instruments away from ceilings that are known to leak to avoid damage. Sometimes, when the downpour is as heavy as it was Monday and Tuesday, faculty members who teach jazz are forced to teach on one side of the classroom to avoid water or flooding.
Meko Pelo, a music professor, told CBS13 he is frustrated by the issues that come when it rains and is concerned for students and faculty who have to teach in the conditions.
"If you walk into a classroom that's flooded and you're supposed to start a class, you end up the first 10-15 minutes, just working out how can we have a class here," said Pelo.
He also said instrument amplifiers that require electricity and are plugged in pose a threat to anyone who has to use them when there is flooding.
"When water hits them [amps], it gets outright dangerous potentially, nevermind the fact that you can slip and fall if you see that there's water on the floor," said Pelo.
He shared his concerns on Twitter and tagged UC Davis Chancellor Gary May in a last-ditch effort to find a solution.
Pelo said the music annex, where faculty offices are housed, is in poor condition due to years-long neglected issues from rain. He said water has leaked and stained the ceiling, likely with mold or mildew, and has begun to come through the floors when there is heavy rain.
Another faculty member shared a photo taken at Briggs Hall and tagged Chancellor May on Twitter. In it, the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology Chair Frédéric Chédin is pictured barefoot, protecting the building from more damage. According to faculty who spoke with CBS13, the basement of Briggs Hall flooded in the storm.
The basement of Briggs Hall is also known as the "garden level" and had "a lot of damage" according to a UC Davis faculty member.
On La Rue Road through campus near the Arboretum Headquarters, a large sycamore tree fell during the storm. It landed on the roof of a cottage and left damage to the rain gutter and roofline.
At Memorial Union, rainwater rushed inside during the storm. In an interview with UC Davis the building director, Janna Tolla said flooding was "some of the worst flooding I've seen."
The storm also carried debris into pumps along two pedestrian and bicycle tunnels under La Rue Road and caused flooding.
CBS13 reached out to a UC Davis media spokesperson with questions for Chancellor Gary May after speaking with multiple concerned faculty members. CBS13 also asked if May had seen Tweets in which he was tagged with photos of flooding inside buildings this week.
In response, a university spokesperson sent a statement about the status of campus projects and maintenance of the more than 1,200 buildings that are, on average, more than 40 years old.
Our campus planners and landscape architects have created robust stormwater systems throughout campus including multiple bioswales to help replenish our groundwater supplies and routine maintenance protocols involve clearing storm drains. In addition, prior to this storm we installed "oil booms" to absorb and retain oils and oil-based liquids that are washed off of roads and into waterways. Despite ongoing mitigation efforts, the large amount of rain that fell in a short time Monday night brought flooding to some of our buildings, including one that sustained damage due to an uprooted tree falling.
Like many campuses, UC Davis has a backlog of deferred maintenance projects that we are constantly working to address as funds become available. This has been made more challenging during the past few months because supply chain issues have caused project delays. The Music Department building is unfortunately one of the buildings whose maintenance has been delayed.
Our facilities crews are currently working with faculty and staff in impacted buildings, including the Music Department building, to find short-term solutions that will prevent flooding until the materials for long-term projects arrive.
