It was just an estimate, but the Barton Community College campus may have sustained close to $500,000 in damage during the July 16 storm, Vice President of Administration Mark Dean told the Board of Trustees on Tuesday.
The board met for its monthly study session, where Dean showed videos of water leaking into the Technical Building and the inner doors to the Science and Math Building being pushed by the strong winds. Later in the meeting, administrators reported on the fall semester.
July 16 supercell thunderstorm
A powerful supercell thunderstorm hit Barton County and Russell County on July 16. The National Weather Service reports wind gusts up to 85 mph were estimated in some areas and a 77 mph wind gust was recorded at the Russell Airport. A brief tornado which was rated EF0 also occurred approximately 5 miles to the southwest of Russell County.
On the Barton County campus, the outer doors to the Science and Math building opened automatically after seeing motion on the camera. There is a six-foot entryway between those doors and the inner doors. “You can see the doors and metal flexing,” Dean noted as trustees watched a video. “The next morning, Jimlo (Glass Center) came out and got everything back in place without losing the glass. We’re going to build some additional supports so it doesn’t happen again.”
In the Technical Building, a piece of the roof lifted up and broke loose. Ceiling tiles ended up in classrooms and offices, all over the carpet, Dean said.
The campus also sustained tree damage and fences near the ball fields were damaged, although the scoreboards were not.
“Contractors have been out and are submitting bids,” Dean said. Asked to estimate the damage, he answered, “if I had to guess, I’d say just short of half a million dollars.”
Students arriving for fall semester
Trustees also heard a report from Vice President of Student Services Angie Maddy and Vice President of Instruction Elaine Simmons about the upcoming fall semester. Approximately 100 student-athletes and ambassador have already arrived at student housing. Friday and Saturday are the official move-in days, and the cafeteria in the Union will open Friday. Local churches have been providing meals to early arrivals since August 5, Maddy said.
As of Monday, student housing still has 37 available vacancies, she said.
For students living on campus, the Cougar Closet, an offshoot of the food pantry, has some bedding and dishes. Maddy said some items were donated and some were left behind after students exited the dorms at the end of the spring semester.
“I washed a lot of dishes that got eaten off of for the last time and left,” she said. Maddy and a few volunteers also washed similarly abandoned bedding.
The Cougar Closet in the Union is version 2.0 of the Cougar Supply Den that started as a food pantry and is located in the Learning Resource Center (Library), Maddy said. “Our food pantry was getting crowded; now we have two locations.” For the start of school, they are focusing on providing items such as bedding and towels, but later in the year there will be jackets and other clothing.
Maddy said the outlook for the fall semester is “Promising and full of potential!”
Vice President Simmons agreed with that assessment.
“The fall term actually started August 1,” Simmons said. With classes online, at Fort Riley and Fort Leavenworth, and at Barton’s outreach centers, courses start at multiple times. But the first day of classes on campus is August 16.
