Many institutional and commercial facilities have made progress in recent years preparing for emergencies that could affect their operations and assets. These resilience efforts often focus on such potential threats as wildfires, flooding, tornadoes and active attackers. But as one Wisconsin school district found out, damage also can come from seemingly harmless events and situations inside their facilities.
A water leak caused damage to Mukwonago Area School District network servers, leading officials to close schools for at least one day. A science lab sink at Mukwonago High School overflowed on May 29, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The issue was not noticed for almost an hour. The district's server room is located directly beneath the lab where water leaked through the science lab floor.
The district said the leak resulted in a total loss of its internet-based systems, including email, phones, HVAC, data and security. The district's IT department determined repairs would not finish in time for school to open safely the next day.
A district official said the science lab was unoccupied at the time of the incident. Building maintenance staff discovered the leak, and the district is still investigating the cause of the issue, he said.
Dan Hounsell is senior editor for the facilities market. He has more than 30 years of experience writing about facilities maintenance, engineering and management.
