Colorado State Programs & People

University History 1997 Flood

10 Years After the Flood

Published July 2007 - Written by Paul Miller and originally published in "The Denver Post," July 22, 2007.

The sound of rain is usually so soothing I sleep like I’ve been sedated, but the rain on July 28, 1997, was eerily different. That evening, what started as welcome rain became so dense that I felt uneasy for reasons I didn’t quite understand. I stood on the porch of our home north of Colorado State University’s main campus, hoping the deluge wouldn’t flood our basement. The rain drummed on the roof as if trying to break into the house.

Nolan Doesken, a noted atmospheric scientist at CSU, was at his own home that evening, and he was uneasy about the rain, too. The rain was so thick, he said, it was like breathing water. Around 10:30 p.m., he noticed another, continuous sound – sirens. "I sensed I was experiencing a disaster, but I had no idea what it was."

Deadly flash floods

By morning, the disaster was very clear. The welcome rain had turned ugly with flash floods, five people in Fort Collins had died and CSU had catastrophic damage to buildings and personal property. The storm dropped more than 10 inches of water in places, at times pushing 8,250 cubic feet per second of water through normally tranquil creeks, said Marsha Hilmes-Robinson, flood plain administrator for Fort Collins. (A 500-year flood is characterized by flows of 3,325 cfs.) The storm ultimately became one of the largest documented rainstorms in Colorado’s recorded history.

The morning was bleak with cloud cover and humidity. As damage on campus was assessed, the prevailing mood swung from shock to immediate action. There was simply too much to do to stand around nursing pain – the storm had caused more than $100 million in damage, destroyed or damaged almost 500,000 volumes in Morgan Library, damaged 36 buildings and directly affected hundreds of faculty, staff and graduate students.

Water had smashed into the lower level of Lory Student Center, tossing huge vending machines through walls and destroying restaurants, a bowling alley, student media offices and the entire $5 million fall inventory of textbooks in the bookstore. The historic Oval, a beautiful, tree-lined centerpiece, turned into a swamp filled with stinking debris – the same fate as basements in many buildings surrounding the Oval.

Heartbreaking losses

Losses were heartbreaking for too many people. Philosophy Professor Ron Williams, whose office was in the basement of Eddy building, remembers his room filling up like an aquarium to within six inches of the ceiling, a computer floating in the wreckage like a dead fish. "Books had expanded until they burst out the sides of bookshelves. I had almost everything in there that I had gathered over a 33-year period." He lost 2,200 books, 3,000 slides, 300 videotapes and priceless art objects from all over the world. But in spite of the loss, Williams said it was fortunate that no one at the University died in the flood.

Over the next year, he was able to replace most of the books with the help of graduate students. He had a painting from India restored (it had been completely submerged), which now hangs prominently in his new office. "I still occasionally reach for things that aren’t there," he said. "But looking back, I remember most the help and effort from people all over campus."

Kevin Oltjenbruns, emeritus associate dean and professor in the College of Applied Human Sciences, remembers the same all-out effort. "Perhaps more could have been done to help people cope emotionally, but in retrospect, CSU did a masterful job in physical recovery." Oltjenbruns, who now is co-director of CSU’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, noted the creative solutions employed throughout campus, such as the Document Recovery Center for faculty to prepare for the fall semester, and temporary "Ask Me" booths set up under large umbrellas for admissions, financial aid, counseling and other personnel to help new and returning students. Public Relations staff worked non-stop to keep the public apprised of the latest recovery news. The ultimate goal was to get CSU back on track for the fall semester, coming up in a mere 28 days.

In waders and T-shirts, muddy pants and sweatbands, Facilities Management crews mopped up the mess alongside long-time faculty and newly hired workers. Summer classes resumed in alternate classrooms after being canceled only two days, and 5,000 conference participants resumed scheduled events three days after the flood.

The lightning speed of recovery continued with two of CSU’s flagship facilities, Morgan Library and Lory Student Center.

Library staff had very close call

"It’s difficult to describe the range of emotions during those first few days and weeks," said Julie Wessling, assistant dean of University Libraries. "Some of our staff had come very close to being swept away when the lower-level wall gave way and the water first rushed in. The relief that no staff were injured kept the magnitude of the damage in perspective, helping us focus on immediate demands."

"Still, it was overwhelming. No building, no electricity, no computers or network connections, no working phones, and no safe access to parts of the collection not damaged by the disaster."

And tons of books soaked to the spines. To prevent the stifling humidity from affecting undamaged materials, fans and pumps ran around the clock. Damaged books were quickly removed and flash-frozen with liquid nitrogen in special trucks, then shipped to warehouses for treatment and repair. Major projects included replacing volumes with gifts and repurchasing items damaged beyond repair.

Unprecedented disaster for a major research library

"At that time, it was the largest disaster ever experienced by a major research library," Wessling said. "We were pioneers in addressing a disaster of this magnitude, and we orchestrated a recovery program designed to create a library to take us into the future."

Post-flood innovations at the library included the creation of RapidILL, a nationally recognized interlibrary loan/document delivery service; Web-based instructional modules; extensive electronic resource alternatives through a planned mix with print resources; wireless networking throughout the library; and upgrading infrastructure and public computers to state-of-the-art levels.

Morgan Library had an especially meaningful celebration on Sept. 25, 1998. A dedication celebrated the end of a campaign, started in 1994, to renovate and build an addition onto the library. The event, originally scheduled for September 1997, thus also served to mark the end of flood recovery efforts.

Lower level of Lory Student Center rebuilt in 18 months

At Lory Student Center, the staggering task of replacing textbooks began with a temporary store set up with plywood counters and generator-powered lights. Rush orders streamed out to publishing companies. By the first day of classes on Aug. 25, the facility was ready with about 85 percent of the needed textbooks for more than 22,000 students.

Then came the hard part. Redesigning and rebuilding 107,000 square feet of the lower level – typically a five-year job – was done in 18 months. The fun part came during a week-long celebration in February 1999 for the new offices, student media, restaurants and an expanded bookstore in the open, light-filled lower level.

Richard Kremer, a design consultant, said that the renovation project was "nothing short of amazing. This could be used as a national model for other universities undergoing similar projects."

Mettle tested, and we passed

Emeritus history Professor James Hansen expanded Kremer’s thoughts to include all of CSU. "The flood was one of the greatest natural disasters our school faced, but people in the University community and throughout the region jumped in and helped in every way possible."

"Our mettle had been tested, and we passed."

More about the flood

• Downpour Turns Into Nightmare
• CSUPD Dispatchers Narrowly Escape
• Lory Student Center Inundated
• Morgan Library Wall and Foundation Explodes
• Academic Offices Annihilated
• Shocking Journey To Campus
• The Morning After
• Logistics and Communication Challenges
• Bureaucratic and Fiscal Hurdles
• Library Opens for Fall Semester
• Heavily Damaged Lory Student Center Renovated
• Faculty Move On
• Theater and Music Programs Suffer Heavy Losses
• President Yates Issues a Challenge

Historical accounts in this series of articles, were compiled and edited from Democracy's University - A History of Colorado State University 1970-2003, written by James E. Hansen II (University Press of Colorado, 2007).

To order a book, call (970) 491-6198, e-mail Resource.Center@ucm.colostate.edu or visit 115 General Services Building on Colorado State’s main campus. Cost is $27, not including tax or shipping. The books are also available at the CSU Bookstore in the Lory Student Center.