Residential students who remained on campus weathered the aftermath of Hurricane Ike in relative comfort – many of them never lost power, or even Internet access.
"I think the rest of the city is in much worse shape than we are," said Sandy Coltharp, associate director of Residential Services.
All of the residence halls on campus maintained power through the weekend, though weak water pressure meant toilets had to be flushed by manually hauling water to them, Coltharp said. Power to Cambridge Oaks apartment complex was restored Tuesday afternoon, but Cullen Oaks apartment complex remained without power as of that time. All residential areas have water.
Food service resumed Sunday for lunch at The Moody Towers, and the Oberholtzer Cafeteria opened Tuesday. Housing staff handed out bags of sandwiches, non-perishable foods and bottled water Friday and Saturday evening to tide students over until cafeterias re-opened. None of the campus emergency call boxes were damaged in the storm, a UH Police Department spokeswoman said, though a call box in Lot 4A that had been removed from service for repairs is still offline.
About 500 of the 4,300 students who live on campus remained through the storm, Coltharp said, and about 45 to 50 percent of those who left had returned as of Tuesday afternoon.
Most students followed Residential Life and Housing’s precautions, she said, though some decided to make their own fun – housing staff had to bring in a few students who decided to venture into the storm, some of them to fly kites.
Others, however, spent the hours coping with damages.
"I didn’t sleep the night of the storm because water decided to seep in under my window," said Ami Casis, an optometry graduate student who lives in South Tower. She spent most of the night sopping up water with towels, but never felt like she was in danger, she said.
"Most people left – it made me worried at first. Should I follow the herd?" she said. But after the storm, "A lot of my friends called and said they lost power…. I had everything I needed."
For other residents, the weekend was uneventful – even downright boring.
"I studied a little bit, I watched TV, cleaned up," said Maurice Williams, a music education senior who lives in North Tower. "I’m from Freeport. My parents came into Houston. I count it as a blessing I decided to stay here."
Working electricity and water began drawing students back to campus once the storm had passed, though the residence halls didn’t officially reopen until noon Monday.
Business freshman Justin Chemmachel weathered Hurricane Ike with friends farther north on Interstate 45, but returned to his room in Taub Hall in the Quadrangle on Saturday afternoon.
"The house I was staying at didn’t have any power. I couldn’t take a hot shower," he said.
Cougar Place residents spent Friday afternoon through Sunday evening evacuated to the Oberholtzer Ballroom and lounges while staff ensured the building was safe to return to, Coltharp said.
"That structure is probably our most vulnerable," she said. "Our biggest issue was making sure it was safe."
One tree had fallen into a corner room in Building 12, Coltharp said.
Accounting junior Mo Morales’ room in Cougar Place is connected by a bathroom to the one struck by the tree, but his room sustained no damage, he said.
"(My suitemate’s) roof is messed up and there’s water and leaves everywhere in the bathroom. And it stinks. It smells bad," he said.
Morales had planned to stay through the storm, but ended up staying
at a home in Pearland.
"Nothing would have happened to me, but I would have worried about the water leaking in," he said.
Most of the residential buildings suffered flooding in basements and some water damage, and after securing safety and food for students living on campus, water damage repair to prevent mold is at the top of Residential Life and Housing’s priorities, Coltharp said. At Moody Towers, water leaks were exacerbated by incomplete external renovations to the buildings.
"The limited housekeeping we have has been working hard," she said. Other than the Cougar Place room struck by a tree, the residential living areas only suffered one broken window, at Taub Hall in the Quadrangle.
"Overall, (we were) just really very fortunate," she said. "When we had (Tropical Storm) Allison, the storm, which wasn’t even a hurricane, we had much more damage. Overall, this has been pretty workable."
Coltharp said it is too soon to tell what the costs of the repairs may be. She also noted damage to Calhoun Lofts, the residential building under construction, appeared to be minimal.
"We’re hopeful that it didn’t get us off calendar too much," she said.
Though the University announced students who had evacuated could start returning to campus at noon Monday, Coltharp said she is encouraging students to make their own decisions about when they should return.
"We just want to make sure the students are safe and our workers are safe as well," she said
RLH has been functioning with a severely limited staff, Coltharp said. Six of the 30 housekeepers and about half of the repair staff have been able to return to work. However, she said, officials are confident normalcy will return to the campus quickly, and Coltharp commended the RLH staff and the residential students for their patience and cooperation.
"Day by day it’s going to get better," she said.
