Gallery • 3 Photos

Photo Contributed by Amelia Fisher

Several cars were found sitting in flood water outside New West Residence Hall, with one student's car having drifted into another vehicle, unable to start.

California Lutheran University’s Thousand Oaks campus experienced flooding due to the heavy rainfall over the weekend.

During what is considered an atmospheric river by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, residence halls were impacted, sports schedules were changed, vehicles were damaged and some classes were canceled or moved online. 

An email from Residence Life and Student Conduct was sent to Cal Lutheran residents on Feb. 4, at 9:05 p.m. The email titled “Safety Message” said the campus was under a flash flood warning until midnight and that students should avoid the street corners of Campus Drive, Olsen Road, and the street corner near Conejo Hall and Memorial Field.

Women’s lacrosse team practice was interrupted by flooding on Memorial Field which forced the team to change their morning practice time and location.

“Instead of our normal practice time being like five to seven on Memorial Field, we got shifted inside at 6 a.m.,” junior and Women’s Lacrosse Team Captain Malina Diaz said. “Right now it’s just a battle for gym time, we were only promised three times a week instead of our normal six times a week.”

Diaz said these changes were frustrating, but the team is resilient and will focus on controlling the uncontrollable.

Sports were not the only thing impacted by the flooding on campus, sophomore Haley Barr said her car was trapped in the rainwater. Barr said she and other students were told to check on their cars in the New West parking lot.

“I grabbed my keys, put on my shoes, and went outside,” Barr said. “And I see my car halfway underwater and I’m like, I have no idea what to do.” 

She said her car would not start and she had to leave it in the parking lot. The car, Barr said, also got moved into another car and was swept up in the waves of cars being moved by the rainwater. If the university had contacted her sooner, Barr said she might’ve gotten to her car on time. 

“The only reason I knew is because someone came knocking on my door,” Barr said. “If that person didn’t say anything, I wouldn’t have known.”

Other residence halls were also affected by the flooding. Pederson Hall’s official Instagram account shared a video warning residents of flooding throughout the dorm Sunday night. 

“The drain just couldn’t handle all the rain,” sophomore and Pederson Hall Residential Assistant Richard Perez said. “Water was coming in through some people’s doors, I didn’t have it as bad as some people had it.” 

The flooding near Pederson Hall and in other areas of campus such as the New West parking lot, Perez said, was taken care of overnight with maintenance workers clearing out the debris and clogs in the drains.