In the wake of Ike

By Catherine Bratic     9/18/08 7:00pm

Hurricane Ike barreled through Houston early Saturday morning, leaving most of the city without electricity or water pressure. But Rice escaped the storm mostly unscathed with its basic functions intact, an occurrence many are attributing to preparation and coordination. Vice President for Administration Kevin Kirby credited the relative lack of damage caused by Ike to good planning on the part of the university.

"The university was extremely well prepared," Kirby said. "We were fortunate with the way the hurricane turned out, we were extremely well prepared and practiced, and we just happened to have good infrastructure, much better than the infrastructure you find around Houston. We're like a little city unto ourselves."

Ike, a strong category 2 hurricane, made landfall in Galveston just after 12 a.m. Saturday and continued on through Houston, bringing winds in excess of 100 mph. Those winds brought down thousands of trees throughout the city, caused millions of dollars in damages to homes and businesses and impeded many of the city's functions. Immediately after the storm, five million Houston-area residents - 99 percent of the city - were without power according to CenterPoint Energy, which estimates that it could take up to a month for full power to be restored. As of Wednesday night, electricity had been restored to 42 percent of the city. Additionally, water pressure throughout the city was initially compromised when the main water pumps lost power. Houston Mayor Bill White advised residents to drink bottled water or to boil their water before drinking it due to the risk of contamination. Water pressure in the city was restored within days, and Mayor White lifted that advisory Wednesday.

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White established a 9 p.m.-6 a.m. curfew throughout the city until next Tuesday.

Rice maintained electricity throughout the storm and restored its own water pressure to the entire campus within days.

Rice prepares

The preparation process for Hurricane Ike began weeks ago at Rice when the Crisis Management Team, headed by Kirby, began to track the storm. Dean of Undergraduates Robin Forman said the preparations began in earnest with the first meeting of that team last Wednesday.

The university preparation process consisted of many parts, including formulating policies for sheltering students, putting up plywood, testing emergency generators, ensuring an adequate supply of food and water, clearing storm drains and backing up the university's data systems. Kirby said this was the fourth time Rice had prepared for a hurricane this year. Rice conducted a hurricane simulation two months ago, and then prepared in earnest for hurricanes Edouard and Gustav.

Kirby said the preparations were enacted in "layers," as Rice gradually built up stronger defenses for the hurricane without overreacting early on.

On the student level, much of the emergency preparations were administered through the colleges, which acted as shelters for their students. Graduate students were sheltered in the Janice and Robert McNair Hall at the Jesse E. Jones Graduate School of Management.

College shelter

Each residential college sheltered its on-campus students and also reached out to its off-campus members. Beginning at 7 p.m. Friday, students were expected to be inside a designated shelter area in their college. However, the actual lockdown did not begin until after midnight.

Hanszen College freshman Irene Mbah said some students went outside to watch the sky before the storm hit.

"Before the storm really began, we went out to the sundeck and watched the thunder and lightning, the wind and the clouds and the sunset," Mbah said.

For many students, staying in close quarters became a party atmosphere, with all of their friends in the same space all night. Martel College Master Jerry Dickens said the mood at Martel was upbeat.

"At Martel, everyone was playing games in the [North College Servery]," Dickens said. "They didn't go to sleep for a few hours."

Sid Richardson College President Claire Shorall said there was a great sense of camaraderie among students sheltered in the Sid Commons.

"It was a very communal atmosphere," Shorall said. "I think we even joked that we should have a night like this where everyone gets locked in to the commons because everyone was so cheery. The band going was so cute and there was lots of mingling of people so it seemed like a great way to have a sort of Sid social function. Obviously we would not want to repeat the experience, but it was the best-case scenario for what could have happened."

Around 1 a.m Saturday morning, the atmosphere changed. As wind gusts reached over 75 miles per hour, Forman gave the word over walkie-talkie to the college masters that all students needed to be moved into the second tier of shelter areas. For many colleges, this meant moving hundreds of people into narrow hallways for the night.

Mbah said the post-lockdown environment was difficult.

"It was crowded in the hallway, and there was no air," Mbah said.

Hanszen freshman Matthew Nieters said everyone was cramped.

"I think I had three or four people's legs on me," Nieters said.

Hanszen Master Barbara Morris said her students looked cozy.

"They looked like little puppies and kittens, all curled up together for the night," Morris said.

Storm passes

Around 8 a.m., Forman announced that students could move freely around their shelter areas and return to their rooms if they desired. Once the winds died down further at 11 a.m., students were permitted to leave the buildings and survey the damage.

Morris said the excitement died down as the hurricane continued.

"I think students discovered what I learned about hurricanes: They're long, and after the initial excitement, they're boring," Morris said. "They never end when you want them to."

For many, the biggest fear ahead of the storm was how food would be provided for the campus if a hurricane struck, Kirby said. Beginning Friday at noon, meals were provided for all students regardless of whether they lived on or off campus.

At dinner Friday night, prepackaged meals were handed out to students for the next day's breakfast and lunch. Most serveries had reopened for a hot lunch on Saturday.

Brown College Master Steve Cox said his students were well-provided for.

"Food was never an issue," Cox said. "It was in abundance. The base of [Brown] tower was just a small restaurant."

Much of the servery staff stayed at nearby hotels during the storm so that they would be able to come in the next day to provide meals for students.

Kirby said in preparation for the storm, Housing and Dining had purchased enough fresh food to last a week, and enough bottled water to last for months.

Ike's effects

Although Rice has a backup well that can supply 80 percent of the university's regular water needs, the motor on the pump to get water from that well failed and Rice was forced to continue to depend on water from the City of Houston. This water source, however, was under very low pressure because of limited power at a Houston pumping station. For the first few days after the storm, Rice students - as well as the rest of Houston - were encouraged to use water sparingly, including refraining from showering and flushing toilets only when necessary.

While the pump for Rice's well would normally be very difficult to replace, a new one was found within days by Ocean Engineering, a company that specializes in extracting oil. Full water pressure was restored to campus Monday.

Unlike most of Houston, Rice maintained electricity throughout the storm. President David Leebron attributed this fact to Rice's direct connection to a CenterPoint Energy substation through underground power lines, which are harder to disturb.

Furthermore, Rice sustained very little structural damage, Kirby said. Among the college damages, Brown College lost the top 25 feet of the brick facade from the top of the south tower, Sid had a shattered window, ceiling tiles were ripped off of many buildings and most buildings had a few leaks, Kirby said.

Leebron said the lack of damage to most of the buildings on campus was a testament to how well they were constructed.

"Our buildings are built to withstand," Leebron said. "When people ask why they cost so much to build, this is why."

Leebron said even the Brochstein Pavilion, an almost-entirely glass structure, was completely unharmed by the storm.

Classes postponed

In recognition of the work that still remained to be done, both at Rice and in the surrounding community, Rice stayed closed Monday and did not resume classes until 1 p.m. Tuesday. In a message on the Rice Web site, Leebron announced that faculty were not allowed to give students written assignments or tests for the remainder of the week. Urging the Rice community to be flexible, Leebron said faculty and student absences from school would be excused given the circumstances.

Kirby said it was difficult to notify faculty and staff that the university would reopen Tuesday because many of them were without electricity, making it impossible for them to check e-mail or the university's Web site.

"Had we opened [Monday], a large number of our faculty and staff would not have been able to get to work," Kirby said.

In the meantime, workers inspected every building at Rice for hidden damage that would make it unsafe to hold classes inside. They also checked to make sure all the air conditioning systems worked properly and that all of the classrooms were usable. Workers cleaned up branches, cleared paths and righted fallen trees through the beginning of the week.

Kirby said the campus should basically return to normal within a week.

"I think largely, within a week we will be back to 85 or 90 percent of what constitutes normal, but getting the rest of the way there could take a couple of months," Kirby said.

"There's so much work to be done in Houston and only so many people who can do it, so there's a lot of competition," Kirby said.

Helping out

In recognition of the work the city of Houston needs, Rice has made an effort to lend a hand to the cause. The Beer Bike track to the west of the stadium has been temporarily converted into a landing pad for helicopters heading for the TMC since their landing zone was damaged in the storm. Furthermore, the newly-finished Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen will be serving as a Triage area for disaster medical assistance teams over the next two weeks to help alleviate some of the stress placed on Texas Medical Center hospitals that were already crowded before the storm. Some colleges are allowing staff and associates to use their laundry facilities because of the electricity shortage.

Rice students have been encouraged by the Community Involvement Center to lend a hand wherever they can. Rice's chapter of Engineers Without Borders has offered to help restore public services in the area.

Students have been helping out within Rice as well, coming out of their rooms to clean up debris after the storm had passed. Many students helped prepare meals at their serveries, which were short-staffed after the storm.

Will Rice College Master Mike Wolf said students were very resourceful and helpful in the face of the hurricane.

"Students really looked around and thought about what do we have, what can be used and how can we make this work?" Wolf said.

Students living off campus who are still without electricity can continue to benefit from Rice's services. Forman said until power is completely restored in Houston, Rice will continue to offer free food and shelter to off-campus students until full power is restored to Houston. However, since its budget is already stretched thin, H&D asked students Monday to refrain from bringing in friends and family to share those free meals. Most colleges have outlined plans for housing these students within the college.

Forman said he was impressed with students' responses to the hurricane.

"I continue to be amazed at the ability of our community to pull together in times of challenge." Forman said. "Watching the way everyone came through, the level of cooperation, support and dedication just reminds me how lucky I am to be a member of the community and how proud I am of the institution. We can take a lot of pride in the way we responded and are continuing to respond."

Off-campus damage

Martel sophomore Maggie Murphy, who lives about a mile from campus, returned home last Sunday to find her house without power and water and the garage flooded.

"We had a fridge in the garage that went flying and ended up down the street," Murphy said. "Our basketball hoop was torn off the garage."

Murphy said she plans to stay at Martel with friends until her house's power and water return. She said she has enjoyed the time to get closer to her on-campus friends.

"It's been fun because the parts of being on campus that I've missed, I'm getting a chance to be involved with," Murphy said. "It's an opportunity to bond more with people that are on campus that I wasn't previously interacting with. I do feel like a mooch a little bit, and I feel bad setting up camp in [my friends'] room, but I don't really have a home."

She said being off campus could make it difficult to find someone to stay with in this situation, but she enjoyed the free meals provided by H&D.

For photos of Rice post-Ike, see This Week in Photos.

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