Hunter Hall residents return after month long displacement

When Winter Storm Uri impacted Texas, Hunter Hall residents were no exception. Despite campus leadership’s efforts to prepare for the storm, many Hunter Hall residents were relocated to the Hilton Houston NASA Clear Lake hotel for a month because of damage to the building. Campus leadership met to make preparations ahead of the storm and obtained a generator for the building from Aggreko. Some students left the residence hall before the storm to stay with nearby family or friends.

What happened at Hunter Hall

The evening of Tuesday, Feb. 16 around 10:30 p.m., the campus lost power. Facilities Maintenance and Construction (FMC) staff found the generator at Hunter Hall did not power on initially because external components were frozen. An Aggreko technician was called to troubleshoot the generator, arriving later in the night because of icy road conditions. Meanwhile, the FMC staff on site were called to assist UHCL Police Department with their generators, which were facing the same issue. 

The Aggreko technician arrived and started the generator, restoring power to Hunter Hall in the early morning hours of Wednesday, Feb. 17. Around 7 a.m., UHCL police officers began to key into unoccupied rooms in the residence hall because of the power surges and reports of potential fire hazards in the building to FMC staff.

“In the early morning there was a fire alarm and there was also a smell, and smoke all over the building, so we had to evacuate,” said Ilka Halmari, finance major and resident. 

After residents were cleared out of the building door to door by Student Housing and Residential Life (SHRL) staff and UHCL PD, they were led to the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center. 

Upon discovery of smoke in the halls, either a resident, police officer or SHRL staff activated the fire alarm. This resulted in the Houston Fire Department called to the scene. UHCL PD found the smoke coming from a plug-in air freshener that overheated from the power surge, which melted the plastic and emitted smoke and odor. 

After the Houston Fire Department shut down the generator and deemed the building safe to re-enter around 9:30 a.m., residents and SHRL staff returned to the hall and unplugged all electronics. Afterward, SHRL staff took residents to the Hawk Food Pantry to obtain food. Residents then met back up at Hunter Hall for a debriefing. At this point, some residents elected to go home to their families or stay with friends as the storm continued. Many residents remained at Hunter Hall.   

“This is my first time living on campus, but I’ve been at Hunter Hall since it opened in fall of 2019,” said Toyin Ayilara, graduate student in Industrial and Organizational Psychology and resident. “This situation is really unfortunate and disheartening. This was my last semester, so I am disappointed by that. 

Ayilara opted to leave Hunter Hall and stay with family until residents could move back in on campus.

Around 9 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 17, lighting and power were restored throughout most areas of the residence hall. In the late morning and early afternoon of the following day, Thursday, Feb. 18, power, hot water, wi-fi, office computers and phones returned to regular operation. However, the heating system remained offline. The Dean of Students office began researching alternative housing options for students near Bay Area Boulevard. 

Moving to the Hilton

In the early afternoon of Friday, Feb. 19, campus partners including Environmental Health and Safety and UHCL PD determined Hunter Hall unsafe for residents after the power surge impacted critical systems for safety and security in the building. Fire alarms and heating, ventilation and cooling (HVAC) systems failed in addition to electronic swipe-access locks for residents’ rooms. Tests indicated that the generator was delivering 270 volts of electricity to the building, which is designed for 120 volts.

“Assessments of infrastructure revealed that systems were down and not repairable,” said David Rachita, dean of students. “The team did a fabulous job with the information we had at each moment to deal with the situation in a positive manner. You can only make decisions with the information you have at that moment.”

SHRL staff informed residents their options were to either stay with friends or family or relocate to alternative housing at the Hilton Houston NASA Clear Lake hotel that evening. Twenty-five residents, all four resident advisors (RAs) and the residential life coordinator opted to relocate to the hotel, where they stayed until Saturday, March 20.

“Residents were called to come to the first floor because the staff had to talk to us,” Halmari said. “We had the choice to go to the hotel or go live with friends or family. I chose alternative housing at the hotel. We were at the hotel for a month, which of course affects mental health. I think I was depressed for a bit because of it. Of course, the RAs were very supportive and made programs.”

Those residing in the hotel and those who returned home to their families were displaced from Hunter Hall for 30 days or more.  

“The hotel was a blessing and a curse,” said Cierra Davis, residential life coordinator. “Residents were removed from their schedules. It was a new and somewhat exciting place to be, but the sudden change in their everyday routine was hard for them, so we wanted to incorporate some of the things they would’ve gotten in the hall. I think when it comes to community, they always have that to look forward to and fall back on. Yeah, we’re relocating, but we’ll still have our community with us. It would have been more difficult if they didn’t have that support along the way.”

The RAs and Hunter Residence Hall Association, a resident-led organization that plans activities for residents in the hall, hosted events throughout their time at the hotel, including: a game and movie night with catered food, a zoo field trip, a waffle bar and a sunset-watching event on the Clear Lake waterfront.

“Everybody’s been really supportive and understanding,” said Troy Rudd, computer science major and resident advisor. “I know there were a couple of times where I got frustrated, but because of the residents and staff, it was actually a lot smoother than I ever anticipated.”

RAs and SHRL staff shared similar sentiments regarding the situation.

“I could not be prouder and more appreciative of the residents and staff on the campus team working on this,” said Matt Perry, director of student housing and residential life. “They have really been amazing and have taken this situation extremely well. It’s been challenging but also humbling and rewarding to make it through.”

Fixing Hunter Hall

In order to get residents back into Hunter Hall as soon as possible, administrators and staff focused on repairing critical systems to the first and second floors of the building. This resulted in students living on the upper floors having to relocate to the first and second floors. 

Students with individual accommodations on the upper floors will now share a bathroom with the resident neighboring them. Those who paid for an individual room with a private bathroom will receive partial refunds for the change in accommodations.

The parts required to repair the damaged systems at Hunter Hall are in short supply. As such, it will take time before all of the parts are reinstalled throughout the hall. 

“The challenge right now is that we need to replace circuit boards for the HVAC system to get the first and second floors back up and operational,” said Mark Denney, vice president of administration and finance. “The manufacturer has no more and cannot manufacture more quickly. There is a high demand for these parts right now.” 

Despite shortages, FMC staff were able to purchase and replace enough circuit boards for residents to move back into the lower floors for the remainder of the semester. Circuit boards for the security and fire alarm systems were impacted but are more common, easily obtained products that were replaced where necessary.

The damage to Hunter Hall is expected to be fully repaired by June. Denney estimated that the damage could range from $300,000 to $1,500,000. The costs associated with the damage to Hunter Hall will be paid for with the insurance policy of Aggreko, the company that supplied and connected the generator to the building. Denney said that UHCL was working with the company’s insurance adjuster to fully reimburse the cost of the damage and that they have been very cooperative. Residents whose electronics were damaged by the power surge were provided forms to complete so they can be reimbursed. 

Lessons Learned

“I have worked in housing and residence life for 20 years and I have never been so blessed and honored to support the Hunter Hall community,” said Aaron Hart, vice president of student affairs. “The RAs, Matt and Cierra did 99.9% of all of the work. They live and work with the students. All we did was get out of their way and support them in the good work that they do.”

Hart commended the efforts of everyone involved in the response including Chief Russell Miller of UHCL PD, Al Black, director of environmental health and safety, and Eric Herrera, associate vice president of facilities, management and construction.

“We learned from it in the event that we need to repeat it for a hurricane,” Rachita said. “We now have a protocol for getting students into hotel rooms.” We not only learned from it, but proved we can do a good job very quickly. From the inside looking out, I think things moved smoothly with the information we had at the time.” 

Residents Returned to Hunter Hall Beginning March 20

Residents began moving back into the lower floors at Hunter Hall March 20.

“I walked in and the RAs were very welcoming,” Halmari said. “They had snacks out and gave us big bins; I put my stuff in there and moved into another room. For me, it was hard because I had lots of things to move. Everyone is definitely closer than they used to be.” 

Like 28 of his fellow residents, Halmari was relocated from the upper floor to the lower floors of the building. After residents moved back in, Rudd said students seemed excited to be back together. The RAs and housing association celebrated their return to the hall with a carnival event that included games, activities, food and drinks.

“These 65 residents last year and this year have really bonded and made [Hunter Hall] their home and their residence hall,” Rachita said. “There’s something to be said about bonding experiences. Shared experiences are the reason fraternities and sororities have houses and the reason universities create living-learning communities because they create a small group sense of community. These residents have created their own community and their experience of this storm is something that they will have in common for the rest of their lives.”