Heavy rains do damage at Cal State Long Beach

The heavy rains of the week have pounded Long Beach, and since Tuesday, the campus of California State University Long Beach has been dealing with the fallout. Officials closed the campus on Wednesday afternoon and it has remained closed Thursday.

Tuesday's heavy rains caused flooding throughout the campus and the surrounding community.

Up to a foot of water flooded two floors of the administration building - E. James Brotman Hall.

A child-care center and one other building on campus had to be evacuated because of downhill flood waters.

"At the North end of campus on Atherton and Palo Verde, the water was so deep, you couldn't see the curbs," said University spokeswoman Toni Beron. "People were abanddoning their cars and some people have told us they've lost the use of their cars because of the flood waters getting into them."

But it was the University Student Union building that suffered the toughest and most lasting damage. A storm drain ruptured or began to leak, and all the pressure from the rains forced water up through the floor.

In a room once used as a student lounge, people started to see water "percolate" up through the floor on Tuesday, according to Dave Edwards, the Director of the Student Union.

"That turned into a small geyser shooting up out of the floor," Edwards said. That led to the entire basement of the building flooded with 18 inches to two feet of water. Crews of more than a hundred people worked through Tuesday night to clean up the mess and make some fixes. They dug a hole in the floor of the room to begin to diagnose the problem.

On Wednesday, the heavy rains returned while crew personnel were in the hole, and that caused more flooding. "A second river flowing through the basement," Edwards called it.

"The problem is, they've got to get into the pipes to figure out where the leak - or leaks - were, but the pipes have been filled with rainwater for going on 72 hours," said Edwards.

So maintenance crews must work on a schedule dictated by the rain.

A new Spring Semester of classes begin at California State, Long Beach, next Monday. Campus officials hope to have at least the food service parts of the building operating by then, but some parts of the building could be closed for up to a month.