Fairmont State University - Mound Yearbook (Fairmont, WV)

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Get dressed! Get out of the building! Flash Flood! These were only a few of the remarks that residents of Locust Avenue heard while being evacuated from their build- ings when a flash flood hit the area. Approximately 3.12 inches of rain fell from 1 a.m. till 5 a.m. on Aug. 18. The sewer system could not handle all the rain once it had been added to the already swollen ground. Several parts of Locust Avenue were covered with water, causing basement apartments and automobiles to be da- maged heavily. The state set aside relief funds of $300,000 for Marion County to help cover the damage. Firemen and police did everything they Bailing out! could to evacuate everyone, so no one would be injured. Firemen had to break out the window of one building to remove two students who were trapped inside. Their refrigerator had floated across the door blocking it and making it impossible to get out. All this added to the excitement of freshman orientation. The electricity was off for several hours, hindering the regis- tering of freshmen, the purchasing of books and supplies in the Bookstore, and freshman activities. When power was restored around 11:30 a.m., residents began cleaning up what could be saved and students re- turned to their daily routines. Mess is not a good word to explain the condi- tions that were left when the water had gone down. President Hardway and Lee Karlen watch as the flood waters go down in the Morgan Hall parking lot. 18 Flood

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Frosh not left in the dark Eleven hundred freshmen, sixty-one counselors, and one man (Blair Montgom- ery) holding a flashlight and yelling instructions through a megaphone began Monday ' s Freshman Orientation program in the dark Feaster Center. A flash flood occurring early Monday morning caused a power failure from 7: 18 to 11:35 a.m. on the campus. The resi- dents of Morgan Hall, one of the areas hit hard by the flood, appeared Monday in sweatsuits. The freshman counselors, some of whom lost everything in the flood, man- aged to keep the freshmen cool, calm, and collected, stated Montgomery, freshman counselor adviser. Training for the counselors began April 1980. A meeting was held Saturday, Aug. 16, prior to Sunday ' s orientation program. But were the counselors prepared for Monday ' s fiasco? We weren ' t really prepared for what happened, stated Jenny Ours, counsel- or from Petersburg. Our training includ- ed dealing with the lost, upset freshmen. None of them were really upset Monday, except for those involved in the flood. The flood victims were reassured by the coun- selors that they had a place to stay, if needed. The Bookstore also suffered. Since there are windows only in the front of the store, the back was pitch black. Through all the chaos we managed to stay on schedule, except for the adviser — advisee meetings. We had to find win- dowed rooms for them, continued Mont- gomery. The students were not sched- uled to buy books until after lunch, so we were not affected there. Orientation originally began Sunday, Aug. 17, when freshmen and parents ar- rived at their dorms, and President Hard- way sponsored a reception for the par- ents. An indoor picnic took place for the dorm freshmen due to the steady rain that fell outside. Freshmen got to see their favorite counselors in action at 8 p.m. in Wallman Hall in the talent show. Monday ' s activities started off in the dark Feaster Center. Students were di- vided into groups alphabetically and met with counselors in vario-j d rooms where they were given a copy of the Student Handbook, College Catalog, and ex- plained book buying procedures, and how to add or drop a class. Meeting with their advisers, the stu- dents registered for classes and talked over their future requirements. A disco brought about a change of pace from 8 to 1 1 p.m. in the Ballroom featuring the Cabaret Mobile Disco. Tuesday consisted of tours better ac- quainting the students with the campus. Group games ranging from British Bulldog 1, 2, 3 to the Counselor Hunt were held from 1 to 3 p.m. A southern rock concert featuring the Roadducks completed the orientation program. Although orientation was dim for awhile on Monday, freshmen learned about group participation, college policies, and the new life they would be facing in col- lege — they were not left in the dark. A quick lunch in the Nickel provides Shari Reed with some energy during Orientation. Over the laughter of the next game ' s instructions, Darlene Brown explains the final rules. Orientation 17

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Morgan Hall residents wait as the water goes down so that they can return to their building. The flood waters lifted cars up and floated them on top of each other in the parking lot at Morgan Hall. Flood 19