Florida freeze causes flooding at UCF, water outages at public schools

Florida freeze causes flooding, water outages at schools

A prolonged cold snap in Florida caused flooding and water outages across multiple Central Florida school campuses, disrupting classes and forcing some students to relocate, officials said Monday.

ORLANDO, Fla. - A prolonged cold snap in Florida caused flooding and water outages across multiple Central Florida school campuses, disrupting classes and forcing some students to relocate, officials said Monday.

Much of Central Florida was expecting another night of temperatures at or below 32 degrees.

The backstory:

Freezing weather over the weekend led to water issues across Orange County campuses.

At the University of Central Florida, a malfunction involving hallway air conditioning units allowed freezing air to circulate inside Towers 1, 3, and 4. This then caused flooding inside multiple dorm rooms.

University officials said affected students are being housed in a hotel off campus while repairs are made.

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Across town, Whispering Oak Elementary had a water outage just as students were arriving.

Some parents chose to pick their children up early over concerns about bathroom access and overall conditions at the school.

Orange County Public Schools said maintenance crews hit delays during repairs, but once school leaders were notified, families were alerted.

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The district said classes still began on time, bottled water was provided, and bathrooms were available for emergencies.

Another elementary school was closed for the day due to a backflow issue but is expected to reopen.

What they're saying:

"Maybe an inch of water, it was just all over," UCF student Blake Ternasky said. "Nothing I can do about it really."

Ternasky said he was told repairs at UCF could take about a week or less.

And at Whispering Oak Elementary, the issues are resolved, but parents said they were frustrated with the communication.

"It was really concerning to me," parent Sara Wattuhewa said. "The communication was not there. We were just in the dark."

What's next:

UCF officials said they don’t expect additional disruptions but will continue monitoring conditions.

OCPS said the backflow issue at the other elementary school has been fixed and that campus will reopen.