Decade since the Flood

A decade ago (10/30/2004), there was a major flood in Manoa valley. It affected a few buildings within the UH-Manoa campus, but especially the main campus library (Hamilton Library).


It was Saturday night!


On Sunday, it  wasn't on the newspaper.  Plus Sunday was Halloween, so everyone was oblivious for obvious reasons.


Here was my reaction on Monday

http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2004/11/uh-classes-cancelled-last-24-hours-have.html

Monday, November 01, 2004

UH Classes Cancelled 

The last 24 hours have been mind boggling. 

I decided to visit Centerfolds in my Halloween make-up (as Vili The Warrior), then I left because I thought school would be in session the next day. 

Then this morning I woke up later than usual (6:30 instead of 5:45) then i got a phone call from a friend saying classes are cancelled. I was only up 10 minutes when that call came, so I turned on the radio. UH classes are cancelled. 

And though I didn't yet read the newspapers, I saw a picture of Hamilton being damaged! BAD! 

I typed that blog post at Netstop (an internet cafe that has sadly since gone out of business).

At the time I was working at the UH's Marine Option Program (MOP) as a student librarian. MOP was located in Dean Hall, which was on the other side of campus. I did report to work that day.

Hamilton Library was closed for the rest of the semester.  It was my last semester as an undergraduate student at UH-Manoa.  I graduated that December, moving on to the next phase of life.
 ===========


Fast forward a decade.

I am back at UH-Manoa, this time as a graduate student in the Library and Information Science (LIS) program. Yes, the same program that was headquartered in the same exact section of Hamilton Library that received the most damage.

The LIS section has been renovated and open for business since 2009! It's very nice!

This past Sunday, there was a commemoration event at Hamilton Library. There were guest speakers including current and past administrators. And there was the professor who was working with the class that escaped the library during the flood. That would be the current LIS chair Andrew Wertheimer.



Here is a link to an article AND video about Hamilton Library's recovery and Sunday's commemoration event

http://www.hawaii.edu/news/2014/10/29/hamilton-library-thrives-10-years-after-devastating-flood/

(personal note: you'll see me in the audience clapping at 1:57 of the video)

-----

Also, there was another video filmed at Hamilton Library last week, in which I made a background appearance. It was related to the Kapa Presentation organized by Na Hawaii Imi Loa (a student organization promoting Native Hawaiian archives and library resources)

link to article and video at
http://www.hawaii.edu/news/2014/10/23/library-preserves-hawaiian-cultural-treasures/