Editor's note: The following account is from the Jan. 4, 2007, issue of OSU This Week, the university's faculty/staff newsletter.
The storm has been called 'worst in a decade'
A gigantic windstorm that knocked out power, fell more than a dozen trees and scattered debris throughout campus could have caused a great deal of headache for everyone at OSU. Yet, having a plan and being prepared made things go a lot smoother when the storm hit the evening of Thursday, Dec. 14.
"All things considered, the response to it went phenomenally well," said Vincent Martorello, director of Facilities Services.
By 1 p.m. Thursday, Martorello and others decided that the power would most likely go out. Crews began checking resources – topping off fuel in vehicles, sharpening chainsaws, etc. Calls were made to the critical areas on campus. They were asked to shut down computers and other important equipment that could be. A notice was sent to campus to make people aware of the storm.
"We wanted to create as much awareness as we could," Martorello said. College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences Dean Mark Abbott was impressed with the preparedness and planning.
"In anticipation of the windstorm and possible power outages, Vincent and his team kept us up-to-date on their plans and ensured that any special needs on the part of the college were know," Abbott said in a memo to Mark McCambridge, vice president for Finance and Administration. "During the storm, FS staff responded quickly and effectively, and many of them worked through the night. The next day, Vincent personally checked to ensure that any critical COAS facilities were protected."
A command center was set up in Cascade Hall so Facilities personnel could be in contact with Oregon State Police and the Department of Public Safety. Lists were made – local contacts and what to do first when they were inevitably called back in.
"There wasn’t one among us who didn’t think that we wouldn’t be coming back Thursday night," Martorello said.
Within 15 minutes of the power outage, Martorello said, six Facilities Services workers were on campus and calls were being made to others. Transit and Parking Services staff was called in, as well, to help OSP.
Seventy percent of the campus had power restored by 11 p.m., but Stuart Larson, coordinator of the Electrical Shop, and the electricians stayed the night.
By 5:30 a.m. Friday, Martorello and others were on the telephone coordinating efforts. They determined that even though some buildings were without power, campus could open for the day.
"The floodgate of calls came to us starting about 7:30," he said.
In the command center that morning, lists were made of where workers were on campus, what buildings were without power and which of those had generators, and where equipment was located.
That morning, officials were joined in the command center by Joyce Fred, risk officer, and Brian Thorsness, director of Business Services.
"We put stuff on the board to make sure we checked on things. For safety reasons, we wanted to know exactly where our people were," Martorello said, noting that workers in buildings without power checked in every 15-to-20 minutes. "It was crazy in the command center.
"We were spread pretty thin on Friday, but there was incredible coordination from OSP, Transit and Parking Services, the colleges, Facilities, Business Services and Risk Management," he said.
For most of the day, Gilbert Hall, Ag Life Sciences, Cordley Hall, Richardson Hall, Wiegand Hall and Dryden Hall were without power. It was restored by 2:30 p.m. With power back online, Facilities personnel "stood down" to normal operations by 4 p.m. Friday.
Twelve to 15 trees fell during the storm, called the strongest one in more than a decade by state climatologist and COAS faculty member George Taylor. Among the damage, two trees next to Callahan Hall fell and destroyed a section of the covered walkway, a tree landed in the middle of the Lonnie B. Harris Black Cultural Center’s parking lot, and two trees crashed through a fence in the field behind Fairbanks Hall.
Mark McCambridge, vice president for Finance and Administration, commended the work Facilities did during the storm.
Sylvia Banks, manager of the Laboratory Animal Resources (LARC), was grateful for communication with Facilities officials.
In an e-mail, she said, "I felt I needed to check on the animals under the care of LARC to ensure their safety, so I headed towards campus. Staff from Facilities Services kept in contact with me and assisted me until I was satisfied that things were under control. I would especially like to thank John Gremmels, Kevin Christman and Biagio Castellano. John kept me informed as to the status of the buildings in which we have animals and ensured that I had personal escorts to provide assistance as needed. Kevin and Biagio provided excellent assistance in ensuring that I had access to the animal rooms and that I was safe. John continued to follow up with me this morning, keeping me up apprised of the continuing situation at ALS (Agricultural and Life Sciences Building) and to make sure we were able to bring the situation under control."
Martorello said it was a good thing the storm happened between terms, when students weren’t on campus.
"With a full complement of students, it would have been more taxing for us with security, safety and resources," he said. "It relieves some of the pressure without them here."
Martorello said he appreciated the work of all his personnel, as well as staff from University Housing and Dining Services, who provided food for Facilities workers.
"Everyone did a phenomenal job," Martorello said. "We followed the protocols and incident command system training we received in accordance with the Emergency Preparedness Plan. This response demonstrates clearly how important the emergency preparedness plan is to this campus."
Crews spent the week before Christmas resetting equipment, cleaning up debris, checking trees for hazards and doing other related work. Yet, it was all work that could be done during normal day-to-day operations.
"Our one purpose is to help campus. We live for this – to pool our resources together and serve the campus during a difficult time," he said. "We now need to get prepared for the next campus-wide outage. It’s not if, but when."
The preliminary damage estimate is about $205,000.
