Flooding, sewage postpones Lone Star College - Kingwood opening

KINGWOOD, Texas (FOX 26) - It's a mess! All of the library books have to be photographed, catalogued and then thrown out. Lone Star College in Kingwood really took it on the chin from Harvey, just ask facilities manager Eddie McFadden.

"It didn't really sink in until you look at the building and saw how deep the water was in there," explains McFadden. "It just looked like a war zone."

Water was two-to-four feet deep in six of the nine buildings. The damage is incredible -- the initial rough estimate at $10 million worth. Clean-up crews have to wear protective gear because of what was in those waters.

Where did all the water come from? The nearby San Jacinto River when it overflowed. But where did all the really gross stuff come from? The nearby sewage treatment plant.

Now much of the campus is essentially a biohazard zone. There are no students on campus because classes have been postponed until Sept. 25. Some classes have been moved temporarily to online curriculum, while others are hybrid as administrators scramble to accommodate the campus' 13,000 students.

"It just depends on how soon we can get work crews and supplies into damaged buildings and of course, we're competing with everyone in Houston and the Gulf Coast area," said campus president Dr. Katherine
Persson. But despite the challenges, Dr. Persson has not lost her sense of humor about the sewage, er, situation.

“Our lawns ought to look really good in about a month.”

Always search for that silver lining.