At least 30 Eastern Michigan University campus buildings have been affected by heavy rainfall over the weekend, including the newly renovated Rec/IM Center.
Water issues from the rainfall were discovered just after midnight on Saturday, June 26, EMU Vice President of Communications, Walter Kraft, said in an email.
Water entered the buildings after storm drains could not handle the quantity of rain coming down, Kraft said.
EMU has contracted with external damage support teams to assist in the assessment and remediation process, and has numerous sump pumps operating to extract the water, officials said.
Wise, Buell, Downing, and Westview, are among the buildings detected with water issues from the rainfall, Kraft said.
Among those affected was also the university’s Rec/IM Center, Kraft said. Currently, the center is open and operational, but the Jones Pool is closed, he said.
The Rec/IM Center reopened to students in Oct. 2020, after its $16 million renovation, officials said. The building previously had no prior major improvements since it first opened in 1982.
Currently, the assessment of damage is underway and it is too early to tell if some buildings will need additional repairs after the water is extracted, Kraft said. It is also too early to know when the extraction of water will be completed, he said.
A flood warning was issued for Washtenaw County on Saturday, June 26, starting at 11:14 a.m. and ending on Sunday, June 27, at 9:30 a.m., officials said. The county received about three to five inches of rain between Friday, June 25, and Saturday, June 26.
