A berm dike put in place after the floods of 1993 has kept Maple-Willow-Larch halls and Seasons Marketplace dry despite waist-high water in the parking lot adjacent to the buildings.

“The floodgates that were put in yesterday did exactly what they were supposed to do and kept Seasons and the rest of MWL dry,” said Brittney Rutherford, marketing coordinator with ISU Dining.

Pete Englin, director of the Department of Residence, said in 1993 about three feet of water filled the dining center and kitchen in MWL and 15 feet of water filled the elevator pits.

“Some of the chairs that were in the dining room floated across over to Scheman and Hilton, so they not only got flooded out, but it carried away items across Lincoln Way,” Englin said.

After the 1993 flood, the university used money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help build the berm dike. The dike is built to handle water from the river up to 19.5 feet, a foot higher than 1993 levels.

Although the dining facility was dry, Seasons Marketplace closed Wednesday due to employees not being able to make make it to work.

“Some staff couldn’t make it into work, so it was easier to feed the small group of people we had coming in today through the Memorial Union,” she said.

Conversations, the new dining facility opening in Oak-Elm Halls near College Creek, and the other dining halls were not affected by flooding, Rutherford said.

Rutherford said she didn’t know the effect flooding would have on ISU Dining’s catering service, which works out of the Scheman Building in the Iowa State Center.

Freeman and Barton halls, on the east side of campus, both had water come in during the Tuesday night storm affecting the bottom floors of each hall but is not expected to affect new student move-in.

Five units in the University Village also took on water and residents in the units were temporarily relocated, Englin said.