More than 2.5 inches of rain fell in two hours in the vicinity of the UNM campus Friday night and early Saturday morning causing a vareity of problems as water overwhelmed the drainage systems, backed up in low-lying areas and entered under doors, flowing down the main stairs and into the elevator shafts.
UNM Physical Plant employees spent the weekend assessing damage and beginning cleanup work. Between 20 and 25 buildings on campus suffered some sort of water damage as a result of the rain.
Centennial Science and Engineering Library, which is entirely underground experienced significant water damage. The UNM Physical Plant arranged for a restoration and recovery company to begin extracting water, removing wet ceiling tiles and general cleanup beginning at noon on Saturday.
An estimated 150 linear feet (about 50 shelves) of materials are water damaged needing restoration. A crew worked Sunday to box up the wet materials for freezing and shipping to a processing center in Ft. Worth, Texas.
Fans and dehumidifiers have been placed throughout the library to reduce humidity and facilitate drying. Centennial library is closed while repair and restoration work is in progress. The other three libraries, Parish, Fine Arts and Zimmerman remain open to students.
The UNM Physical Plant and departments across campus assessed damage Monday, but there were no immediate damage estimates available.