The cold water of the Pemigewasset River has risen here before.

Usually, it’s ice jams from up north that clog the river and drown this little area at the town line of Plymouth and Holderness.

This time it was rain, then some more rain followed by more rain.

While Plymouth State University is on higher ground, the little section of Holderness Road off Exit 25 of Interstate 93 is home to the school’s facilities office and ice arena.

The arena was mostly spared. The facilities office got swamped. So did a pair of gas stations and other smaller campus structures.

“We can’t really say what the total damages are to campus. Our teams are still doing the assessment and trying to figure things out at this point,” said Joanne Landers, vice president of enrollment management and communications.

One small blessing was that students had left for the semester.

“I think it would have been far more chaotic,” said Kelli Kemery, the facilities manager for Plymouth State. “There would have been a different impact with the students here because there would have been an academic program that was operating. The fact that the academic program had ended and students were able to leave the campus, it was safer for them and it’s easier to clean up for us.”

The storm dropped between 4 and 5 inches of rain across the Northeast, according to the National Weather Service. In New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont, the rain melted mountain snow, which swelled the rivers even more.

Seventeen people were rescued from floodwaters in Conway, New Hampshire, four of them by helicopter, according to the Associated Press.

Holderness Road, which leads to campus from the highway, was closed as the water rose and flooded the area. Once the water receded, the cleanup began.

One of the offices at the flooded facility’s office was Kemery’s.

“You never know with Mother Nature,” said Kemery. “The last time we had this amount of water was probably Irene in 2011. We’ve had micro floods since then, but not to the same level.”

The Big Apple gas station marks the high water mark for each flood. The highest mark on the wall – above head height – was from April 1, 1987.

 “Our thoughts are with individuals and businesses in the region who have been devastated by this unprecedented event,” Landers said.

@plymouthstate

When it rains, it pours. The Pemigewasset River hit flood stage overnight surging to a level we haven’t seen since Hurricane Irene in 2011. Thank you to the incredible efforts of first responders, firefighters, line workers, Plymouth Water, and the PSU Physical Plant team for the flood preparation on our buildings.

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