Recently, the campus of the University of Dallas was subjected to extreme rainfall that led to flooding across certain areas of the university. On Wednesday, Jan. 29, the Dallas-Fort Worth area was hit with a record-breaking flash flood.
Bobby Mason, a UDPD officer on duty at the time, said, “It was the most spectacular rainstorm. It was raining so hard it felt like someone was pouring buckets of water on my head.”
His co-workers, Dave Lemire and Chief Green, corroborated this sentiment, stating that, in their many years of service at UD, they had never seen anything quite like it. In just two short hours, an astounding 4.1 inches of rain descended upon campus, engulfing the eastern end of Jerome Hall, the first floor of Cardinal Farrel Hall and the parking lot behind the student apartments.
In Jerome Hall, 4-5 inches flushed onto the eastern patio, seeping into three dorm rooms. Although some residents attempted to barricade their room to prevent damage, the water could not be stopped.
A similar situation occurred on the west end of Cardinal Farrel Hall, with copious amounts of water rushing into the building. Luckily, the hardworking facilities members were able to retract the water in both of these halls swiftly with a wet vacuum. However, the situation in the student apartment parking lot was not so painlessly resolved.
Around 11:05pm, student apartment residents received an email from resident coordinator Sarah Baker that the student apartment parking lot was flooding, and that any and all cars ought to be removed as swiftly as possible.
Alex Sinitiere, junior philosophy major and student apartment resident, said that his heart sank into his stomach when he saw his car with water rising all the way up to the window.
Similar thoughts of despair ran through Jackie Friddle’s mind, junior politics major and also a student apartment resident, upon seeing her car overtaken with rainwater. Friddle recalls the state of confusion at the student apartments, with UDPD rushing to the scene.
However, some students were less bothered and took the opportunity to nonchalantly drift in pool floats amidst the chaos.
Thomas Gillis, senior English major, was among the few swimmers enjoying the commotion. “Cowabunga, it was disgustingly fun!” said Gillis.
Despite the high spirits of some, there remained much confusion as to whether or not the residents should remove their cars and risk drowning their engines. In the end, all the residents were able to safely remove their cars, but the fate of some were more tragic than others.
While Friddle was able to push her car all the way out of the parking lot to dry land, Sinitiere was not so lucky. Although he successfully drove his car out of the water, his engine was completely dead and his car is now totaled.
Some of the residents have expressed frustration as to why tow trucks could not be called to salvage their cars, but Officer Mason stated that this flooding affected all of the Dallas area, so tow trucks were busy helping with high water rescues.
Overall, UDPD feels they handled the situation as best they could. Mason said, “How does one prepare for something you cannot see coming?”
Yet still, some students remain frustrated and confused as to why these situations occur in the first place and wonder if the drainage on campus could be improved.
At the very least, this rainstorm reminded the UD community to always expect the unexpected.