Rice spared from worst Allison had to offer

Rice
spared from worst Allison had to offer
…………………………………………………………………

BY DANA BENSON

and LIA UNRAU
Rice News Staff

Rice was largely
unscathed by the aftermath of Tropical Storm Allison, which
dumped as much as 35 inches of rain in parts of Houston
earlier this month.

Dean Currie,
vice president for finance and administration, attributes
that to lighter rainfall at Rice, good physical plant and
storm preparation training and good people who responded
well.

“It appears
we had no significant damage and no programs or research
that has been compromised,” Currie said.

Good planning
— in the physical plant and in storm preparation —
was a major factor in how the campus weathered the storm.
Currie explained that the university has no generators in
basements and that the underground sump pumps largely worked.
Further, new buildings are above flood plain, he noted.

“We have
an encyclopedia-sized set of manuals on what to do if a
storm is on the way, things like checking roofs, making
sure generators are ready, et cetera. That prevented a lot
of trouble,” Currie said.

He also gave
credit to the facilities and engineering staff whose 48-hour,
round-the-clock efforts Friday, June 8, through Sunday,
June 10, helped Rice avoid a lot of damage.

“We had
outstanding crews here all night Friday and Saturday that
kept the central plant running even when water was pouring
in and kept our cogeneration plant up and just didn’t
let us get behind the storm. We had a really great response
from all of the people involved,” Currie said.

President Malcolm
Gillis sent a letter to students notifying them of the damage
to the campus.

“Rice has
been at the forefront in studies of flooding threats over
the last few years and, as a result, we had already taken
many steps, large and small, to protect the campus,”
Gillis said in the letter.

Philip Bedient,
professor of environmental science and engineering, agreed
that Rice fared so well due to planning and topography and
a little luck.

“The Rice
campus largely escaped flooding because it sits on a little
higher ground than surrounding areas and the buildings were
built up a little bit,” he said. Bedient, who has been
studying flooding in Houston and other urban areas for more
than 25 years, also credited the storage of water on Highway
59 — nearly 100 million gallons — with keeping
water off the Rice campus.

“I’m
actually quite surprised the campus did as well as it did,”
Bedient said. Bedient, who has been in several meetings
with city of Houston and Harris County officials discussing
plans to better manage flooding in the future, said there
is a lot of movement afoot to try to improve the situation.
In the Rice and Texas Medical Center area, suggestions include
installing underground pipes to channel water around the
medical center and looking for more water storage areas
along the four-and-a-half-square-mile area that makes up
the Harris Gully watershed. The gully actually runs under
Rice and through the Texas Medical Center area.

However, Bedient
said, “People need to realize that this was a flood
of massive proportions.” A 100-year flood, which can
occur more frequently than once every 100 years, officially
drops 10.5 inches of rain in 12 hours or 12.5 inches in
24 hours. Confirmed
rainfall at the Rice campus from Tropical Storm Allison
was 14.8 inches in nine hours, with 8.5 inches falling in
just a two-hour timespan.

“It has
been 18 years since we had serious flooding in the medical
center,” Bedient said. “I think Brays Bayou has
been very lucky over the years, and our luck just ran out.”
If the Brays Bayou area were to get heavy rains like this
again, Rice could expect to be in a similar situation.

For more details
about Brays Bayou and the flooding from Allison in the Rice/Texas
Medical Center area, visit Rice’s Flood Alert System
site at <www.floodalert.org>.

Damage incurred
on the Rice campus included:

Existing Facilities
• Flooding in Edythe Bates Old Recital Hall at the
Shepherd School of Music. The maple floor was scheduled
to be replaced the week of June 23. The $1.4 million Grand
Organ was not damaged.
• Flooding in the basement of Autry Court gymnasium,
causing mud damage to the pool filter. The pool was to be
back in service by the end of June.
• Six feet of water in both the north and south basements
of Jones College. The transformer was flooded, and the building
had no electrical power. Power has been restored, flood
water has been removed and the damage assessment continues.

• Flooding in the basement of the Space Science Building.
Some physics and chemistry research data, books and equipment
were damaged.
• Flooding in the basement at Brown College. The building
is being restored.
• Water damage in the Hanszen College Master House.

New Construction

• Flooding of the bottom level and part of the next
level of the underground parking for the new Jesse H. Jones
Graduate School of Management. Both levels of the parking
garage have been pumped out, and damage is being assessed.
Mud and debris removal is ongoing.
• Flooding at the construction sites of Martel College
and the Jones addition. • Construction equipment was
damaged at all three sites.

For more information
on Tropical Storm Allison visit <http://riceinfo.rice.edu/projects/reno/Newsrel/2001/20010611_allison.shtml>