The South Bay region was not spared a series of atmospheric flows that caused torrential rains throughout Southern California.
High winds and showers were frequent this spring semester, with recent rainstorms disrupting several classes at El Camino College.
The brunt of the water damage was the Industry Technology Education Center and the Humanities Building, with numerous water leaks.
The western side of the library’s basement was also affected. Water pooled and began dripping off the walls and seeping into the floors in various areas.
The college’s Facility Design and Services Department quickly addressed the water damage issue. Interim Assistant Director Michael Blada faced the water sources coming into the rooms.
“There’s more than one way to have water in a building,” Blada said. “You may have a roof leak or water ingress coming from some other source, not necessarily the building.”
The Industry Technology Education Center was having problems with drains not flowing properly, causing water to pool in the lines and causing water to enter the building.
Blada said the department cleaned the drains by running water clean through them. For permanent prevention in construction areas, e.g. B. in the training center for industrial technology, the drains have to be cleaned frequently.
Sometimes cloths are placed down the drains to catch debris such as nails or wood clippings and prevent them from entering the plumbing and causing messes.
Jorge Gutierrez, executive director of Facilities Planning and Services, said the department needs to take steps to ensure pollutants don’t enter storm drains.
Basement corridor of the Industry and Technology building. Part of it is covered in plastic due to water damage to the floor and wall. (Igor Colonno | The Union) Copyright: Igor Colonno
“We need to provide … stormwater runoff mitigation measures [in construction areas] because it can contain pollutants and it goes into flood defenses and then it’s released into the ocean,” Gutierrez said.
Gutierrez said the mitigation measures will be completely removed after construction is complete.
Back at the Humanities building, Blada said they are working with an engineer on possible repairs to prevent long-term damage and stop water from seeping through the walls.
Although there are currently no plans to rebuild buildings, Blada said they always try to improve waterproofing as the problem mainly occurs in cases where large amounts of rain accumulate over short periods of time.
Security measures are in place to ensure the rooms can be made available to students and faculty alike. Dehumidifiers were placed in affected Humanities Building rooms to ensure contaminants that could cause mold are removed from the walls.
The department works closely with Servpro, a water, fire and storm damage restoration company that previously worked with El Camino.
The outside company places equipment and cuts drywall to completely clean up all water damage.
Associate Dean of Humanities Scott Kushigechi said Servpro acts in concert with the facilities department to determine which rooms can and cannot be used for instruction.
“If the room is bad… it’s the facilities that say so [the room] cannot be used today,” Kushigeachi said.
According to Kushigechi, prioritizing room treatment planning depends on the severity of the water damage.
With the possibility of rain remaining this spring semester, the Facilities Department will continue to work closely with each department dean to repair affected buildings and get students back to their classrooms.
eccunion.com
https://eccunion.com/news/2023/04/01/heavy-rains-cause-water-damage-to-itec-and-humanities-buildings/
