Major Disaster hits Columbus, OH

[jake75]

No, I am not referring to Ohio State's loss to LSU in the College Championship football game on Monday. During the night a 16 inch water main running next to the downtown Columbus Convention Center burst - much of the water went underneath the convention center causing major flooding and damage to the extent that there is a concern that the building has stuctural damage and is in danger of collapse. The photos on the news are quite alarming. If it had happened during the day maybe they would have found it earlier and been able to limit the damage. We had a lot of rain last evening into the early hours of the morning so all the water in the streets did not provide a clue as to what was happening.Nearby hotels are without water and are setting up port-a-johns outside for their guests.The loss of revenue from scheduled conventions may exceed the cost of repairing/rebuilding the convention center. Hotels and restaurants in the city, and even the airlines serving Columbus will suffer losses. Employees of the center will be out of work. City tax revenues, already compromised by the slow economy, will be hurt as well.

[Whelan]

Wow, have to read up on this after lunch. I was in town a few years back when Arnold Schwarzeneger was doing a presentation for the Weight Lifter or Body Building convention or something.

[joatmon]

maybe they'll be able to fix it quicklyhttp://www.dispatch.com/live/c....htmlQuote » UpdateConvention center deemed structurally sound despite floodingWater-main break closes building, N. High StreetWednesday, January 9, 2008 10:10 AMStructural engineers who inspected the Greater Columbus Convention Center after a broken 16-inch water main flooded the building early this morning determined that the building is structurally sound, said Tatyana Arsh, the Columbus utilities director....

[Toasted7]

That's horrible that it happened, but at least the building will not have to be rebuilt... now is just a matter of how soon it will be reopened.

[jake75]

COLUMBUS DISPATCH 2pm 1-9-08The Greater Columbus Convention Center is structurally sound, city and building officials said, after engineers looked at damage caused by a broken 16-inch water main that flooded the building early this morning.Fire officials had said they feared a collapse because support beams and floors appeared to have been compromised, but officials no longer believe that to be the case."It looks like the damage was nowhere near what it was feared to be," said Paul Astleford, president and CEO of Experience Columbus.N. High Street was closed this morning between Goodale Street and Nationwide Boulevard, and only one southbound lane has reopened.Some nearby businesses were affected, while others were not.The North Market is open and has water and power, but the Spruce Street entrance to its parking lot is closed. The Vine Street side is open.The Hampton Inn has power but no water, so portable restrooms were set up or guests could use the ones at the North Market.When Fire Battalion Chief Doug Smith arrived at the convention center shortly after 5:15 a.m., he said water was running out the doors and the concrete slab floors appeared to be buckling.A convention center worker said water also was flowing onto N. High Street from under the building's exterior walls.Smith said the focus of officials' concern was not the entire building but the main convention hall in the center of the building — the orange section of the multicolored building. The center was evacuated, but officials did not evacuate the adjacent Hyatt Regency hotel.Early reports suggested that the water main ran under the building, but Smith said it runs under the sidewalk just west of the building. A plate apparently broke off the pipe and allowed water to run into an abandoned waterline under the building."It could have been going on for hours and hours," and water was flooding the building from the north end south, he said.Smith estimated that the damage to walls, carpeting and other fixtures will run into millions of dollars.City crews began digging up the sidewalk on the west side of the building, at N. High and Swan streets, just before 9 a.m. to repair the broken line.Public Utilities Director Tatyana Arsh said city crews are assessing the situation to determine whether the abandoned main was not properly capped off.The flooding was first reported to the Columbus Fire Division at 5:15 a.m., and city crews shut off the water by about 8 a.m., said Rick Tilton, spokesman for the Public Utilities Division. He did not know how long the water was flowing before it was discovered or how much water flooded the building.

[jake75]

YESTERDAY: (Fire Chief) Smith estimated that the damage to walls, carpeting and other fixtures will run into millions of dollars.TODAYS PAPER: After Flood; convention center set to reopen. Structual integrity not compromised by break of uncharted waterline. Convention Facility Authority says early estimates place the damage at $200,000.I think Fire Chief Smith has a future as a TV Weatherman. They are always warning of 12" snows and then we see 2". I'm surprised that the news media didn't raise the possibility that this was a terrorist attack!

[vibebob]

I work for the water department here and we would know in a second if we had a main break, even if it was a 4 inch line the system would page us.I'm glad for the city that the damage wasn't as bad as first feared.

[MRCN RCE]

man that is not cool, but it's good that the building is still ok.lol @ jake's weatherman comment