Brian Rivers, the physical plant director at the university, explained that the flood was caused by the shutdown of the main air handlers during the floor re-finishing in the multi-purpose room.
The cold air drawn into the small mechanical room on the third floor put the room under negative pressure, freezing a small sprinkler line. When the room re-heated, the sprinkler thawed, resulting in a small flood of water, indicated Rivers.
Rivers says the flood occurred around 6:30 that morning.
According to John Danakas, public affairs director at the University of Manitoba, “The damage is minimal.”
Danakas says, “Signage at all entrances indicated the closure and redirected occupants temporarily to the EITC Atrium.”
The flood also caused some asbestos to be exposed, but according to Danakas, “Any safety hazard would have been minimal because the stipple [that may have contained asbestos fibres] was wet, and thus any asbestos fibres would be held down, rather than airborne.”
Despite the fact that the dangers surrounding the asbestos were neutralized from the start of the flood the university still took all precautions involved with the removal of asbestos.
Danakas told the Manitoban, “The building was closed to the public while the testing and cleanup took place. First an air clearance test was conducted to see if the fallen material had had any impact on air quality. The test showed no airborne asbestos fibre hazard.”
He continued, ‘[Then], trained technicians cleaned up all the debris off the ground. Another air clearance test was conducted, again showing no airborne asbestos fibre hazard.”
“The area was cordoned off and further cleanup continued [ . . . ] After the initial cleanup and after the second air clearance test showed no air hazard, with the area kept protected from the public, the building was opened.”
Stephanie Crook, a third-year arts student, says she found out about the flood through another student’s Facebook status.
Crook says, “I thought it was going to [affect my day] because when I woke up my plan was to go to University Centre to buy textbooks and run errands. However, I ended up calling the university in the afternoon and they told me that University Centre had been reopened just before [noon]. I ended up going after that.”
Will Burton, a history student, had arrived at University Centre to process his student loan application when he noticed a sign on the Emerson room door, saying that due to flooding they would not start until noon and would be processing in a different room.
He says the line-up for student loans was fairly long and that the line-ups for University BookStore buy-backs may have also been longer because of the flooding.
University Centre re-opened that same day around 9:15 a.m..
