Cleanups begin after dozens of Clark Atlanta students displaced by flood water

ATLANTA — Crews are starting to clean up and assess damage on Clark Atlanta University’s campus.

A flash flood Thursday left several cars submerged and people swimming to safety. The water rushed into a dorm on campus.

CAU confirmed Friday that staff had to move 24 students to other units on campus. Staff is helping take care of the belongings lost in the dorms.

All 24 of those students are now living in rooms on higher floors in the same buildings they were in.

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Channel 2′s Michael Doudna spoke with one of those students whose said the water came rushing in out of nowhere.

“All of a sudden I heard my window break and just this downpour of water rushing at me. I see it, the girls across from me see it and we’re just like we need to get out of here quickly,” student Mariah Faustin recalled. “Dressers are floating down the hall, and it was just like insane seeing it in person because you hear about these things and see these things in movies, and like, we literally looked like a scene in a movie.”

Once they got the water out of the dorms, Faustin said her room is still severely damaged.

“My wall is caved in basically. The window is boarded up because that’s where all the water came rushing out of us,” she said.

Faustin says she’s grateful for the all the help they have received.

“We are freshmen, we’ve only been here a month so it’s kind of crazy that this happened to us, but the upperclassmen and alumni have been so helpful, it’s been so heartwarming to know that they care for us even if they’ve never met us,” Faustin said.

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Outside, Channel 2′s Courtney Francisco saw Atlanta’s Department of Watershed Management workers washing slick mud off sidewalks and removing debris caked on storm drains.

Restoration crews vacuumed the water out of buildings. At one point, a woman slipped on mud, and a medic took her to Grady Memorial Hospital.

Watershed Management said workers are visiting areas that experienced flood to assess conditions and inspect assets. Friday night, the City of Atlanta announced they would offer assistance to residents needing cleanup and/or remediation. The city is asking those residents to fill out a Severe Weather Flood Assessment Form so the problems can be addressed.

Watershed Management says they have several specific projects underway to reduce flooding and protect your family in extreme weather conditions.

To read about those projects, click here.

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Cleanup efforts underway after flood waters surround Clark Atlanta University

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