For the second time in two weeks, there has been significant flooding in the Columbus Government Center, City Manager Isaiah Hugley said.
The most recent flooding happened Saturday afternoon following repair work by the city maintenance staff on a fourth-floor toilet, according to an email that Hugley sent Columbus councilors and those impacted by the situation.
John C. Hudgison, the city's director of the Building Inspections & Code Enforcement Department, inspected the damage Saturday afternoon and determined there was floor damage on the fourth floor; ceiling and floor damage on the third floor; ceiling and floor damage on the second floor; and ceiling damage on the plaza level.
Officials immediately called ServPro, a national restoration company that had been working in the Government Center since last month's broken water main that damaged the top half of the building. They were able to respond quickly, Hugley said.
This is the second time there has been a major flood in the Government Center since June 18. Early that morning, a 12th-floor water main feeding the boiler broke and dumped about 36,000 gallons of water into the building, leaving courtrooms and other offices on floors 11, 10 and nine “devastated,” Mayor Teresa Tomlinson said.
The situation closed most of the building for a week as city and judicial officials scrambled to move proceedings to available courtrooms.
The second leak was significant because when it happened, workers had to get outside the building to cut off the water flowing through a 1-inch line. It took almost 20 minutes to get the water stopped, Hugley said.
Saturday's leak started as routine maintenance. The facilities maintenance staff was scheduled to do plumbing work on a judge's restroom on the fourth floor, according to information Hugley provided. The water had to be turned off to the building and pipes drained. Once repairs were completed, the water was turned back on and the plumber went back to check that all water was turned off and that the leak was successfully repaired.
While doing this a Muscogee County deputy sheriff reported a leak in the squad room restroom on the fourth floor. The plumber attempted to tighten a leaking connection. The connection separated, resulting in flooding. The water once again had to be turned off outside the building and the lines drained, according to Hugley's email.
Hudgison said the problem was "amplified with no isolation or shut off valves in the building."
"That toilet control stop malfunctioning alone should not have done this much damage but a 1-inch water line running almost uninterrupted for 20-30 minutes will," Hudgison said in an email that Hugley forwarded to council. "The water moved through the building similarly to the flood last week, through pipes in the floor and over the edge of the building. The only difference is that these floors are closer together and even 20 minutes worth of flow effected 4 floors."
Hugley said Monday he has ordered cutoff valves to be installed on every floor.
The District Attorney's office on the third floor was most impacted, but it did not force the closure of the office, said District Attorney Julia Slater.
"We're working," she said. "We have had six staff members who have been displaced, but they have found other places to land."
Some files suffered water damage, Slater said.
"ServPro has worked with us to help dry them out," she said. "After we finish that process, we will know if any valuable original documents were compromised."
There was no damage to computer equipment in her office, Slater said.
This story was originally published July 02, 2018 11:40 AM.