Hurricane Harvey Spares DMC

Mark Young

myoung@foghornnews.com

In the grand scheme of things, Del Mar College escaped Hurricane Harvey relatively unscathed. Most of Corpus Christi escaped the worst of the storm, as it veered north shortly before landfall.

Del Mar received minor damage from the storm, with a little over of half the buildings receiving damage from the wind or rain.

“There was minor damage to several buildings, primarily from wind-driven rain that seeped under doors and around windows. College operations are temporarily impacted in the William F. White Library that had several feet of water in the basement at one point,” said Claudia Jackson, executive director of strategic communication and government relations for the college.

A total cost from the damage has not been assessed, but at least $16,000 has been spent, officials said.

Charles Miller, superintendent of physical facilities, said that overall “we faired well. There was some water damage from the rain.”

Miller said the campus had no electricity for four days, but that most buildings are in shape.

All buildings at Del Mar are currently in use, he said, and all major problems were fixed before the school year started.

The most pressing issue that came up from Harvey was flooding in the White Library basement.

“The rapid response from college employees began pumping water out of the building as quickly as possible,” Jackson said, adding that the college will “assess the White Library facility to determine how to guard against future basement flooding.”

Richardson Performance Hall, which flooded in summer 2016 and recently underwent about $1 million in repairs, fared well in Harvey, Miller said.

“There was some water damage from the rain. It came through the front doors,” he said, adding that the hall will be ready for its first event this semester on Sept. 15.

Del Mar President Mark Escamilla, who handled operations from the FEMA Dome on West Campus with emergency responders, said Del Mar was fortunate compared with surrounding communities.

“Many of our beloved faculty live in Rockport, Port Aransas, Ingleside and Aransas Pass, where the storm has had a devastating effect,” he said.

“The magnitude of the tragedy and destruction of our neighboring communities is sobering and humbling and Del Mar College is committed to doing everything within its authority to provide assistance, however we can,” Escamilla said.

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