The flooding that occurred in several campus buildings after the heavy rains last Friday did not cause any major damage, according to a spokesperson. The university is set to investigate how flooding can be prevented in the future.

Last Friday, a major downpour caused flooding in various buildings on campus. Rain leaked into the Refter through the windows at the front side, and the Huygens’ garage was flooded as well. Additionally, water poured into lecture halls of the Spinoza, Elinor Ostrom and Linnaeus buildings while classes were still going on. ‘Those classes were resumed in a different hall or online, for better or worse,’ says spokesperson Martijn Gerritsen. ‘But it was still unfortunate.’

According to Gerritsen, the drains weren’t able to handle the amount of water coming down at a certain point. ‘It’s possible that there were already small defects at some spots on the roof, which allowed the water to seep in. Additionally, the large amount of water caused new leaks in other places.’

Mopping Up
The deluge did not cause any structural damage, according to Gerritsen. ‘The water in the Spinoza, Huygens and Linnaeus buildings could easily be mopped up,’ he says. Gerritsen was, however, reluctant to state the amount of damages caused by the leakages. ‘But they were small enough that we didn’t need to claim insurance.’

‘The buildings where the rain came in have been around for a while.’

This marks the second time in a short period that the university has had to deal with flooding. The new Maria Montessori building was flooded last June (see insert below, ed.). Does this mean that the university did not account for this kind of heavy weather in their building plans? ‘The buildings where the rain came in have been around for a while,’ according to Gerritsen. ‘Even the Huygens building (opened in 2005, ed.) is no longer brand new. I am not sure if the construction standards back then accounted for this kind of downpour.’

Gerritsen goes on to say that the university is aware of the fact that these kinds of torrents will become more frequent in the future due to climate change. ‘That is why the Campus & Facilities service (formerly known as Property Management, ed.) will investigate the steps that can be taken to prevent these leakages in the future.’