College cleans up flash flood mess - WSFA.com: News Weather and Sports for Montgomery, AL.

College cleans up flash flood mess

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Courtney Pickens combs through wet belongings after water flooded her dorm room. Courtney Pickens combs through wet belongings after water flooded her dorm room.
SELMA, AL (WSFA) -

It's hard to see, but easy to hear when Courtney and Christy Pickens walk across their dorm room floor.

Water still lingers in the carpet, on the tile and even in their school books.

"Everything was flooded and we were running, it felt like we were swimming," says Christy.

The girls were asleep when they heard commotion outside their bedroom window.

"I woke up, I put my feet on the ground and water was up to like here. And I heard people outside yelling get out, get out!" says Christy.

Next thing they knew, their entire dormitory was flooded and many of their things had floated away.

"We're still missing like a lot of shoes. I don't know what happened," adds Christy.

The Pickens twins are two of many students now staying in nearby hotels while school administrators work to clean the dorms.

"We met with our insurance adjuster and we are right now meeting with potential contractors that are gonna be coming in to do all of the clean-up and make sure the buildings are dry," says Concordia College Chief Financial Officer, Dexter Jackson.

Students say the dorm buildings were recently renovated. Now with debris and water all over the floors, they wonder how long it'll take to clean it up again.

"It's gonna be about a week," adds Jackson.

Administrators say contracted crews will rip up soiled carpet, tile and baseboards.

"We're prepared to handle that and get the students back on campus where they can be convenient and safe," adds Jackson.

"It made me think about people actually getting hurt in storms and you have to really take precaution," says Courtney.

"We're just thankful that we made it out safe," adds Christy.

Concordia College officials believe it will cost $125,000 dollars to clean the dormitories.  That doesn't include new materials like carpet and tile.

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