Severe flooding began Dec. 10 with an atmospheric river delivering heavy rain. These conditions deeply affected the Auburn and Pacific communities, leaving students and staff at Auburn Riverside grappling with significant disruptions to their schedules and daily routines.
Ben Barta, the dean of students at Auburn Riverside High School, emphasized that decisions regarding flooding and evacuation are managed by district level offices rather than individual schools.
“The plan of action comes from the district office, we have an emergency response team that’s district wide,” said Barta, adding, “They monitor flooding, they monitor storms, like all that type of stuff gets monitored by this team.”
When discussing Auburn’s susceptibility to flooding, Barta remarked, “Yes, we are in the valley, if you study geography, on the topographical map, we’re in the low spot next to a river, so this district itself is always going to have to deal with flooding as a problem, especially as climate change tends to get worse as time goes on, things like floods will become more common.”
Principal Janalyn McKeehan reiterated that Auburn Riverside adheres to district and city guidance during flood and evacuation situations.
“If Riverside was in an active flood zone, our school would follow the guidance and direction of the district and the city to ensure that all students were safe,” McKeehan said.
She also highlighted that many students and staff were directly affected, with some having to evacuate or be on alert for evacuation.
“We did have both students and staff members who had to evacuate or who were put on alert for evacuation during the floods.”
While closed roads challenged students and staff’s commute to school, many developed new routes and routines during these circumstances. However, students and staff were never at risk while learning and teaching at ARHS.
For students living in Auburn and Pacific neighborhoods, experiencing the flooding was an unexpected event. Information about the school’s delays quickly spread through announcements.
“I think I heard with the school, because it was on the announcements, talking about, such and such road is flooded, and, I heard around school a bunch of rumors,” student Mackenzie Gerarz recalled.
Freshman Ximena Guzman expressed surprise at the suddenness of the flooding.
“… It came out of nowhere …,” she said, adding that while some people were prepared, others were “not prepared enough, because barriers were broken, and many people had to evacuate from their houses.”
When asked about safety concerns for her neighborhood, Ximena added, ” I feel safe, but at the same time, I don’t feel safe, ’cause I don’t know how fast a flood could spread rapidly or not.”
The disruption of daily routines posed academic challenges for many students, with delays affecting sleep schedules and transportation. Freshmen Ximena noted the flooding “affected my sleep schedule and the amount of people who were on my bus.”
In light of recent events, students like sophomore Kinsley Covey believe city and school district officials should assess and implement long-term solutions for future preparation on flooding.
“I think it’d be good to think about,” Kinsley said.
