CU students received notifications Wednesday night extending the Flash Flood Warning put into effect by the National Weather Service at around 8 p.m., and a CU alert informed people to “move to upper levels or higher levels on foot.”
The National Weather Service reported that a “Flash flood watch is in effect until September 13th, 6:00am MDT,” and three people in Colorado have been confirmed dead in the flooding.
Knollwood Tennis Courts just west of the Pearl St. Mall completely submerged after intense flooding Thursday afternoon. (Nate Bruzdzinski/CU Independent)
According to a news release from CU, campus will be closed Thursday and Friday due to damage from the flooding and ongoing threats.
“40 of our buildings have some form of water damage, that is about 25 percent of the buildings on campus,” said Ryan Huff, CUPD spokesperson. Officials have not decided when the campus will reopen.
Huff added that 21 students have been relocated: 11 will have to permanently move dorms due to damages and 10 will be relocated for a week.
“Most of our buildings on campus right now that have basements have seen some kind of low-level flooding with water seeping in through cracks in the foundation,” CU spokesperson Bronson Hilliard said. Homeowners are advised to hire a house foundation repair contractor to inspect their property’s foundation if there are signs of structural deterioration.
Responding to rumors of the roof of the Koebel business building collapsing, Hillard said, “No, Leed’s roof did not collapse. That was a rumor on social media, it was not true.”
Topher Pollard, a former resident visiting Reed Hall, helped clean up the flood damage in the dorm’s subbasement.
“We did bucket crews for three and a half hours, where we just took every trash can in the building, formed a fire line and just pumped it,” Pollard said. “They currently have vacuums in there now.”
Bernadette Venters Sefic, a sophomore economics major and a Resident Advisor at Sewall, witnessed the reported gas leak in her dorm at 12:30 a.m.
”The fire alarm, along with the sirens and the lights, went off and everyone evacuated to the parking lot,” Venters Sefic said. “We had to wait out there for a half hour in the rain before we were allowed back into the building.”
“Our dorm never flooded, however we did get evacuated,” said Sydney Taylor, a 19-year-old flock leader from Smith Hall. “We had issues with the boiler room that caused steam that looked like smoke.”
Graduate students in faculty housing located on Boulder Creek have been evacuated to higher floors in the building.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Danielle Meltz at Danielle.Meltz@colorado.edu.
Staff Writer Ed King contributed to this report.
