Over winter break, Aragon experienced serious flooding on the lower level science wing and new career and technical education (CTE) building. The first flood was small, but the second one went down the entire lower hallway but did not reach the gym. Science teacher Steve Ratto, whose room was affected by the flood, says, “I got an email on the Saturday before we got back, from Mrs. Kurtz, informing me and other teachers affected about the flood.”
Everything in the cabinets and drawers of every room was taken out and boxed up. The computers were covered in saran-wrap to protect them from water damage and everything was taken off of the walls. Ratto adds, “There were about forty to fifty boxes when I got back on Monday, and I’m getting my room back little by little.”
Assistant Principal Joe Mahood says he found out about the first flood via phone call on Dec. 21. “We had put up sandbags before break,” he says, “but I got a phone call saying that the water had gone over the sandbags.”
On Dec. 23, all of the water from Bucknell St., Oregon Ave. and Alameda de las Pulgas came down to the already existing site of the first flood. Mahood adds, “The drains we had in place were designed for the amount of water from the parking lot and the roof. They did not account for the water from the other streets.”
Maintenance workers started moving things back into the teachers’ rooms the weekend of Jan. 5. All of the computers in the photography room, which were stored in a locker, were brought back in. The computers were covered in saran-wrap, as was everything else in the rooms, so that they could be labeled and stored without the risk of water damage.
Photography teacher Nicholas Carrillo came in before school started and saw about a half-inch of water evenly spread out throughout the room. He says, “Not only did water come in through the bottom of the door, but it also seeped up through the ground. I believe that the seeping was due to cracks in the foundation.”
In the photography room, there are various outlets that are on the floor. The fuses in the outlets are designed to pop when they come in contact with water. When the fuses pop, the outlet needs to be replaced. When the flood came in, all of the fuses popped, and as a result all of the outlets were replaced.
Carrillo continues, “I like to compare it to owning a brand new Mercedes that doesn’t work or I could have a Ford Taurus that works. Don’t get me wrong the classroom is beautiful, but I’d rather have a Taurus than my Mercedes.”
“There have been smaller floods in the past, but none that got [as far down as] my room,” says Ratto.
Mahood agrees, saying, “This is the worst flood I have ever seen in my time here at Aragon.”
As for plans to prevent future flooding, Mahood says, “The district has hired an architect and a civil engineer to make plans, and we have not yet seen these plans yet. They are discussing many possibilities, but won’t know what they are doing until they finalize the plans.”
