The Elon campus area received at least 5 inches of rain Friday afternoon combined with a power outage. Large areas of campus were under water and parts of 13 buildings were flooded.
Elon’s main campus lost power late Friday afternoon as a major rainstorm moved into the area. Main feeder lines supplying power to campus were downed and power for much of the campus was off while Duke Energy crews worked to find a ways to reroute electricity.
Power was restored to essential areas of campus, including the Oaks residential neighborhood where most early arrival students are currently checked in, around 5:45 p.m. Power remained off at Colonnades residential neighborhood, Loy Center and Global Neighborhood, so a handful of students, faculty and staff who were living in those areas were relocated for the night. Power was restored to the entire campus around 1 a.m. Saturday.
Office of Admissions tours for Saturday were cancelled due to the campus flooding and the cleanup efforts.
Physical Plant crews worked throughout the afternoon and evening dealing with minor flooding in several campus buildings. There were a total of 13 buildings with some degree of flooding, most frequently caused by water backing up and coming under doors. Generators were needed to operate sump pumps at buildings without power.
Streets around campus were flooded and the Under the Oaks quad was submerged. At least one rain gauge near campus measured more than 5 inches of rain within a few hours.