The remnants of Tropical Storm Ida raged through campus Wednesday, uprooting trees and felling ceiling tiles in its path.
A pine toppled on West Campus at around midnight, landing squarely between two gateposts near the traffic circle and blocking the entrance to Chapel Drive. A C-4 dodged the tree by several minutes and was trapped on Chapel Drive. (See our photo slideshow of the scene on Chapel Drive.)
Driver Mike Eubanks said he thought the pine was bound to fall, noting that it had been leaning significantly. He pointed to several other trees along campus drive that have also grown with a slant toward the road and suggested they should be removed.
“These things are unpredictable, but I’m concerned that Duke has not had common sense,” he said. “This tree has been leaning for a long time.”
Roger Conner, a senior member of the groundskeeping staff, said slanted trees do not necessarily pose more of a threat, but noted that there is “always a danger with older trees.” He predicted that the debris would be cleared within a few hours at a cost of about $1,500 to the University.
Several motorists who had been parked near the Chapel were forced to drive through foliage to circumvent the fallen tree. With the C-4 stranded, one of the two C-1 buses in operation transported students living on Central Campus residents. Students had to walk up Chapel Drive to meet the buses at the traffic circle.
Earlier in the day, a live oak was uprooted in front of Wilson Dormitory on East Campus just before 2 p.m. No students were injured, but a vehicle narrowly escaped the fall. Groundskeepers arrived quickly on the scene to remove the tree within two to three hours after it fell.
“It’s a ginormous tree. The wind knocked it down and it crushed our bench that we just painted,” freshman Camila Vignaud said.
Freshman Jess Jalufka said she was nearly struck by the fallen Wilson tree. Later that night, her return to East Campus was interrupted by the fallen pine on Chapel Drive. She said the incidents left her feeling cursed.
“I think I’m going to die in the process,” she said while walking to the C-1. “I”ll fly away like Mary Poppins to my final demise.”
The wind and rain felled more than just trees. Junior Lindsay Voorhees was watching “Gossip Girl” when a ceiling tile fell onto her bed Wednesday.
The tile is one of many that have fallen in dorm rooms in Crowell Quadrangle on West Campus since Tropical Storm Ida—which is expected to continue pouring down rain Thursday and Friday—made its way to Durham Tuesday.
Leaves piled up in some residence hall gutters causing leaks in rooms, which made ceiling tiles wet and more prone to falling. Residence Life and Housing Services called in a service request for gutters to be cleaned, but not all gutters were able to be cleared out Tuesday, said Shawhan Lynch, West Campus residential facilities manager for RLHS.
“If there’s a problem in the room, we send maintenance guys up there to take the damaged tiles down, and we send housekeeping up to assist the student,” she said.
Lynch added that the tiles can not be replaced until the rain stops, because the water in the ceiling has to dry out first.
“It’s just a slight annoyance, but nothing horrible,” said sophomore Ben Demarco, a Crowell resident.
Duke Facilities Management Department has been monitoring the strength of the storm for over a week, said Joe Jackson, assistant director of Grounds, Sanitation and Recycling Services. In order to prepare for heavy rain, contractors with more efficient equipment have been called in to assist groundskeepers in cleaning up the campus and managing areas that have erosion problems. Jackson said chain saws were also made readily available in the event that large trees fell down.
For most of the day, the rain did not affect most students’ daily routines. C-1 bus driver Michael Holmes said the buses were able to keep with their regular schedules and that many students still rode the bus to make their way to classes.
“I’ve seen some people wipe out on the stone,” sophomore Chaele Akerfield said. “It’s slippery out there.”
Some students have complained about clogged drains that caused flooding in some areas on campus. Obstructions caused by the buildup of leaves and litter kept the water from draining, slowing traffic on Campus Drive and the corner of Duke University Road and Anderson Street.
“Our system is certainly not deficient under normal situations in accommodating regular waterfall, like two to three inches, but this is not a normal situation,” Jackson said. “No drainage systems are in place anywhere that are designed to carry five to six inches of rain like we’ve gotten in a short period of time.”
He added that he would not be surprised if more flooding occurs in the next few days.
Zachary Tracer contributed reporting.
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