GCB is Ruined

Oahu has been inundated with rain lately. Mayor Mufi Hanneman estimates the damage as at least 2.7 million dollars. Since Amber's blog published pictures of the flooding right here in Laie, I thought I would update you on the damage in one particular place. The GCB, general classroom building, is the headquarters for the School of Computing and Mathematics at BYUH. It also now houses offices for the school of Business. Your Dad's office is in this building. The entire building is a mess and all the carpeting is a total loss. Your Dad spent a number of hours after the rain cleaning the carpet in his office and one lab in order to do a final exam at 7:00 A.M. After all that, the Dean came in and said that he felt the area was too dangerous to have students come in. Your Dad finally told students that he would trust them to take their finals wherever they could find a computer to do it on, dorms, library, etc. and they were on their honor not to cheat. As all the carpeting was ripped up throughout the building, the custodial staff unplugged your Dad's little office refrigerator and left it unplugged overnight. Fortunately he went in early enough to discover that mistake before his Lean Cuisines all thawed out and he lost his lunches. Books and papers that were stored anywhere on the floor were lost, but most of the computers were on little shelves under the desks in the labs and so were undamaged. Special troughs that had recently been put in to hold the wiring however were filled with mud and water. It will take a few weeks to get this building so it can be functional again. The first two pictures are your Dad's office specifically and the third and fourth are labs. Of course there was other damage on campus but this is the closest to home for us. Rain has continued, although it is slowing. Streets in Laie are piled high with ruined belongings from residents in the area. Everyone is awaiting insurance adjusters before these things can be hauled off. Our ward, Laie 6th, was the most devastated in the Stake and so as you can imagine everyone has been doing laundry, taking in meals, and general cleanup for their neighbors.