More than eight inches of rain in 36 hours have flooded the Blackwater River Valley. Late Saturday night, a spontaneous brigade of students and faculty worked to sandbag the bottom floor of Shirley Hall, while firetrucks pumped the runoff from a swelling Proctor Pond.
Their work was in vain. By morning, the Pond spillway was overwhelmed. The Pond has now doubled in size, flooding the math department, reaching from Slocumb Hall to the atrium of the Fowler Learning Center.
All travel to and from school is not only prohibited, but next to impossible. Routes 4 and 11 are closed immediately east of campus. Unable to get to school with my camera, I posted a plea for student photography on our electronic bulletin board, NEWS. Heroes Alex Stein and Alex Tierney immediately sprung into action, and captured the daylight images you see here. This is the first time one of these pages was created off campus! This image captures the sad fate of Shirley Hall from Farm House.
The walkway between the Pond and Shirley ends more than 100 feet before North Street, which is also under water.
A river currently (sorry for the pun) drains the Pond over North Street, past Slocumb and through the Maintenance Department.
Our eyewitness news team is on the scene!
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