September Flood Leaves UNLV Students Wet and Stranded

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A day that started out bright turned into a wet soggy mess on campus during a flash flood. The September 11th flash flood left many students stranded on campus. The storm began around 1:30 p.m. and caused massive flooding across the UNLV campus.

The Tropicana Parking Lot was one the hardest hit areas. Water reached as high as 30 inches in the deepest areas in front of the parking garage. Water easily made it over the hoods of some vehicles. Many students were in class when the rain started and were unable to move their vehicles in time.

Donna Karinzada was working out in the Student Recreation and Wellness Center and when she came outside, her car was trapped in the flood. She enlisted a few guys to help her push the car out of the flooded area to a dry spot. “I thought it was fine, but all the guys told me that there was water up to the seats,” Karinzada said. A couple of guys stayed around to help remove the water from her car, which gushed out the moment she opened the door.

UNLV has an Emergency Message System that sends out alerts by phone and e-mail to all students that are registered with the service. However, students did not receive a response until 3:13 p.m., well after the flood had already done major damage.

UNLV Assistant Chief of Police Sandy Seda said that the way the message system works is that the police send out information when they receive it. The sooner they receive the information, the faster the alerts are sent out to students. Seda also said that the system is in the middle of a transition phase and that also could have contributed to the delayed responses.

Count Karinzada among those who didn’t get the message. She said she never received any warning nor did any one at the SRWC notify those in the building of a flash flood. Now she hopes that her insurance will cover the damages

Not all was lost for some students on that day. Some students decided to make it a pool day and sit in floating chairs. Plenty of students took pictures and uploaded them to social networks.

One lady was overjoyed when she saw that her car was above water and not affected by the floods. “My car being okay is like Christmas without it having to be December” said Cornelia Hodges when she saw her car was above water and not one of the unlucky ones submerged. “I thought it was underwater and I thought the engine was no good” Hodges said, “Which meant I would have to get a new car and come up with the down payment, which I don’t have.”

Hodges asserts that she did not receive a message from the UNLV EMS alerting her there was a flash flood. “There are students right now who are sitting in a coffee shop or in class and have no idea that their car is underwater. It’s a damn shame” said Hodges.

Seda hopes that this incident will get students to make sure they are registered with emergency services and that they report any incidents to campus police.

For more information on UNLV and their Emergency Services department, please contact Sandy Seda at 702-895-3668 or e-mail him at sandy.seda@virtual-rebel.com .

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