Flooding affects WIB

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Two offices in the northeast wing of the Western Instructional Building were flooded on Jan. 30 when a rain pipe above the offices broke, pouring water into the offices.
A major storm front dumped rain throughout Southeastern Utah for three days the last weekend in January. The rain pipe may have been jarred apart when the new roof was being installed fall semester. It was in two pieces when the storm hit, forcing the water through the ceiling into the two offices.
Sustaining the most damage was associate professor Heath Earl’s desk, computer and printer which were all covered in sitting water. Assistant to the Associate Vice Chancellor – Liberal Arts & Science Division, Linda Jensen, also had part of her office flooded.
Some furniture and the wall between the two offices was damaged by the water in Jensen’s office. A painting hanging on the wall that associate professor emeritus Don Burge thought was worth $10,000, was not damaged by the dripping water. Jensen said, “Due to the quick response of the facilities department, major damage was averted. The roofing company was immediately contacted and arrived to take care of the problem.
“The computer, desk, printer and other items in Dr. Heath Earl’s office were not damaged and do not require replacement.
“There was only minimal damage to the wall paint in my office. The wall is being scraped and repainted at the present time.
“We were very lucky that there was no major damage to any furniture or equipment in the offices.”
Sheila Burghardt, USU facilities manager added, “As part of the project to install a new roof on the WIB, the roof drains were removed and reinstalled by a contractor working on the project.  The supports for the drain pipe on the northeast corner failed during the storm.  The contractor repaired the drain pipe on Jan. 30.
“I met with Melanie Nelson on Feb. 2, to assess the damage and found one wall needs to be painted.  In addition, all drain pipes connected to the roof drains have been inspected to make sure there are no problems,” Burghardt stated.