Last week's rain brings new flood of problems

Swimming to class was not out of the realm of possibilities last Thursday, as Red Barn Park filled with runoff water from torrential rainfall.

More than 2.5 inches of rain fell Thursday, according to the National Weather Service in Pleasant Hill, Mo. Part of the football field near the Kennels flooded, along with the Quad, as a result of the rain. Several buildings on campus started taking on water, and Pershing Arena was close to disaster again. Tim Baker, Physical Plant assistant director and safety manager, was first to respond to Magruder Hall, where drainpipes on the roof were overwhelmed, causing water to flow over the protective flashing and into the building. He said there is now a plan to fix the runoff drainage system at Magruder.

"We are going to permanently modify the drains up there," Baker said. "We are going to redirect the overflow to another

area of the roof, where the roof drains are larger, and can carry that flow."

Baker said that although the problem appeared to be disastrous, the Physical Plant workers quickly solved the problem by rerouting the drainage system.

"As soon as they got that temporary trough up there, it was just like turning off a water hose," Baker said.

Magruder did not present the only problem around campus. One of the major issues, Baker said, was blockage of the drainage system.

"There were some drains that were covered with leaves," Baker said. "The bad part about it is we had just cleared all of them a day or two before [the flooding]. With all the wind and the amount of leaves falling off the trees, they got covered right back up."

Although the blocked drains were the most obvious factor in the campus flooding issue, it was not the only thing to blame. Baker said that Kirksville is not equipped to handle that much rain in such a short amount of time.

"The city storm sewer system was overwhelmed," Baker said. "In a number of places on campus, we had water coming up out of the drains."

The Physical Plant cannot do anything about Kirksville's drainage system, but it can work to make campus more efficient in supporting heavier amounts of rainfall. Baker said work began last summer to fix the drainage problem.

"We are continuing to work on some of the drains around campus," Baker said. "A lot of it can't be prevented because the city system that all of our drains run into can't carry the runoff from these torrential rains."

Senior Jordan Gribble lives off campus and saw the campus flooding from her car as she made her way to Barnett Hall. She said the sight of that much water was almost unreal.

"I looked to my left, and all of Red Barn [Park] was covered," Gribble said. "You couldn't even see any of the walkway. The concrete just disappeared into the water."

Gribble said attempting to park at Barnett Hall was more difficult than usual due to the amount of slow-moving traffic.

"All these cars were backed up," Gribble said. "I think they were afraid to drive because the water was coming onto the street."

John Buckwalter, director and engineer of Kirksville Public Works, agreed with Baker in that the storm sewer system cannot handle the amount of water experienced in a short time like last Thursday. He said some of Kirksville, not just the campus, experienced flooding issues.

All downtown runoff water is directed to Red Barn Park. That is what turned the park into an impassible body of water for a short time Thursday. For now, Buckwalter said, the park will continue to serve that purpose for the entire runoff system.

"We are constantly trying to improve it, but there are limits," Buckwalter said. "The bottom line is that as much rain as we had with that storm and as high as Bear Creek got, there really isn't a great deal that can be done in the existing system."

Changes to the current system would require land that is not available. Buckwalter said that people need to pay attention and plan accordingly when Kirksville receives large amounts of rain.

"We need to be aware of where the areas that are impacted are," Buckwalter said. "It is normal for Bear Creek to come out of its banks. It is not normal for it to flood as extensively as we saw last week."