The massive rain storm that hit Southern California on Sunday left the campus of Cal State Long Beach soaked with flooded basements, fields and sidewalks.
Director of Facilities Management Tony Malagrino said the lasting damage is only minor, as facilities crews hustled to combat flowing waters throughout Saturday night.
“We haven’t had enough rain in the last few years to see where the weaknesses are,” Malagrino said. “… This last week has certainly shown us where they are.”
Malagrino said the smaller rain storms earlier in the week allowed them to see where buildings were prone to leaks and they were able to fix any problem areas before major damage was done by the heavier rain. They were also able to see where they needed to clear drains around campus and erected barriers on the West Campus turnaround to divert water away from Brotman Hall.
Several buildings were damaged, including the Social Sciences / Public Administration building and University Theatre basement. Malagrino said that crews were able to dry out the soaked floors and replace ceiling tiles in SS/PA, which was several hundred dollars worth of repairs.
Some professors are still dealing with the damage in SS/PA, which has had ongoing problems in its basement offices since last fall, according to Elena Ionescu, a lecturer in the Family and Consumer Sciences department whose office is in the basement of the building.
“By the end of last semester, we thought they had solved the problem. They were here, they were taking care of the mold, they also repaired, so everything looked really nice, but with the rain …” Ionescu said.
Ionescu shares the office space with several other professors, whose desks have all been displaced to one side of the room to avoid the side with the damaged ceiling.
“It was just very inconvenient, we’re going to have to have office hours. It does affect us,” Ionescu said.
The athletic training field was flooded as well and Malagrino said if the field is still flooded within the next few days, facilities will drain it themselves to prevent damage to the grass.
“We had messes we had to clean up and carpets that got soaked … But we were lucky on a whole,” Malagrino said.