NU-Q community bands together to repair storm damage
Recent heavy rains in Doha waterlogged many of the city’s roads, homes, and buildings – including those in Education City. NU-Q’s building sustained flooding in its basement, car park, and some ground floor spaces, which caused the campus to close for two days, along with other universities at Qatar Foundation.
A team led by NU-Q Chief Operations Officer Pim Thukral worked around the clock to assess the condition and minimize damage.
Operations personnel stemmed flood water, contained damage to the building’s data center and IT infrastructure, and restored power in all classrooms, offices, and public areas within two days.
“It was nothing short of a miracle to have our building back online, both the physical space and technology, in just over 48 hours,” Thukral said. “Our staff in Facilities Management, Information Technology, Production, and HSSE worked tirelessly with very little
A concerted group of volunteers including students, faculty, staff, and alumni also joined in the rehabilitation activity on campus.
Aly Zein Mohamed, a student who was on campus when the storm hit, led a group of classmates and alumni working on the clean-up, which enabled staff to focus on solving high priority issues. “I care a lot about this university because it has made me feel so welcomed and so much a part of it. Seeing the building in the state it was in and knowing that the Facilities team needed as much support as they could get really made me want to do everything I could to help,” Mohamed said.
The restoration effort enabled the campus to re-open on October 23, with classes and operations resuming normally. More work will be done over the next few weeks to recover the large event spaces and basement facilities.
