PULLMAN, Wash. – Beginning at approximately 7 a.m. today, flooding resulting from a burst water pipe in the IT building on the main Washington State University campus in Pullman disrupted the operations of a significant number of computer servers housed in the lower level of that building. The flooding occurred because recent freezing temperatures in the region damaged the building’s water pipes, which then released a torrent of water as temperatures moderated.
A review of the associated damage is ongoing, but it appears the primary problems stemming from the incident included an outage of the university’s main website, www.wsu.edu; a disruption of online access to the Zzusis student information system, which has subsequently been restored; a disruption of access to some online examinations primarily affecting Global Campus students; and interruptions to wi-fi service in some residential dorm areas on campus.
WSU is in the midst of finals week, and it is important to note that the server outages are not affecting the final examination schedules of the large majority of WSU’s on-campus students. It now appears that a limited number of on-campus students and 98 Global Campus students scheduled to take online examinations today may encounter difficulties in gaining access to online exams. Impacted students are working with faculty members to develop alternative plans to submit final assignments or take their exams.
Technicians continued to incrementally restore access to WSU online services this afternoon and will continue their efforts until full restoration is achieved.
No overall estimate of the cost of the damage resulting from the flooding is available at this time. Structural damage to the building, however, appears to be limited.
Contact:
Robert Strenge, WSU News, 509-335-3583, rstrenge@wsu.edu