Major storm tears through campus
Posted by The Skyliner on September 10th, 2008Cody Fields
Sports Editor
Photo by Elizabeth Wood
North Greenville University took raising the roof to a whole new level on the night of July 21 when a severe thunderstorm damaged the roof of the Donnan Administration Building.
At approximately 8 p.m., over half of the roof was taken off by the isolated storm that went through parts of Greenville County. A large part of the debris littered the lawn behind the building, but some of it landed on the roof of Neves Academic Building, causing some structural damage. An uprooted tree also crushed two cars between Self and Trustee residence halls.
A portion of the roof collapsed, damaging the registrar’s side of Neves. Damage was minimal to Donnan because the flat roof under the sloped roof remained intact. However, the area that housed the school’s main computer server was damaged by water.
“It was dark; the wind was blowing. We just thought it was a bad storm,” Director of Student Services Billy Watson said. “It didn’t rain but about 10 minutes.”
At the time, about 900 Centrifuge campers were in a service in Turner Chapel. There were scheduled to be in Donnan and Neves only a few minutes after the storm hit.
“We’re thankful to the good Lord that he spared any of those kids from any injury,” president Dr. Jimmy Epting said. “We like to call it our Tigerville miracle.”
Reaction across the NGU community was one of shock and surprise before anything could be done.
“I had to get Mr. Watson to tell me three times what had happened before I believed him,” Epting said.
Epting and Watson, among others, led an attempt to rescue boxes of archived records out of the exposed attic until the fire chief forced them to evacuate the building.
Building inspectors and news media flocked to the scene soon after the story broke.
“We had about 24 straight hours where every which way we turned we were being interviewed,” Epting said. “It got us on the news, but there are other ways I’d rather get publicity.”
While insurance will cover the damages, some estimate that it could cost up to $1 million. Workers have repaired Neves and Donnan to a state where they can be used. The target date for completion is Oct. 1, Epting said.
“I’m really amazed at how quickly and efficiently the construction workers have been doing their jobs,” Vice President of Student services Dr. Tony Beam said.
The quick response and strong resiliency of the campus has even allowed those in charge to keep a light heart about the situation.
“Some people said that I was so upset about something that I blew the roof off, but that’s just a rumor,” Epting said.
Tags: Fall 2008, Vol. 108 Fall - Issue 1