Ian Kahler
News Reporter
On July 9, the Kearney area experienced unprecedented flooding from 9 inches of rainfall during a torrential thunderstorm. The south side of Kearney was submerged in floodwater that resulted in the interstate exit and entirety of south Kearney to be closed for two days.
Even though campus is far away from the south end of Kearney, it was affected in numerous ways during the downpour. Multiple buildings including residence halls on campus were damaged, these rain damages ranged from minor to severe leaks and material destruction.
LeAnn Jochum, the Associate Director of Operations in Residence Life, was on campus during the aftermath of the storm.
“There were unprecedented amounts of damages due to oversaturation of the ground and the high power of storms that came through the area,” Jochum said. “The ground was like a sponge and couldn’t be flushed immediately due to how much water was in the ground.”
Nearly all residence halls on campus were negatively affected: namely Mantor, Randal and both Centennial Towers. Because of this, the facilities team was hard at work this summer ensuring that when the new wave of students entered their residence halls in the fall, that their buildings would be safe and secure from potential future inclement weather.
Michael Cremers, the Assistant Director of Facilities Management Planning in the Facilities department, was intent on setting up a plan of attack during the flood damages and issues on campus.
“All of our staff works year-round to ensure the safety and stability of the buildings on campus, and they absolutely stepped up and helped with the repair efforts,” Cremers said. “I am very happy how we all came together, and all of the interactions and conversations have been nothing but positive.”
Residence Life and Facilities continues to come together to power through and plan for the prevention of future flood damages.
“This Fall, Residence Life will have focus groups of a variety of students ranging from international students, upper-classmen and freshman that will help Res Life examine and plan accordingly for the future, which will begin in October.” Jochum said. “Surveys will also be sent out via students’ email in September for student feedback and safety, as student input is very important to us and we want all demographics and angles covered.”
