Following an afternoon thunderstorm in Pensacola on Sunday, August 24th, Campus Bookstore Manager Rachel Leuenberger was called to assess flooding at 6:27 p.m. When she arrived, Auxiliary and Facilities staff were already on-site working. Since the fall term was starting the next day, she stayed until 10:30 p.m., moving fixtures, books, and shelving. The front 30 feet of the store were affected by the flooding.
Leuenberger reported minimal damage to merchandise, with only 50 pieces—including hoodies, sweatshirts, and men’s pajama pants—needing to be written off.
On Monday, August 25th, the first day of the fall term, Leuenberger and her team coordinated with The Commons and Auxiliary staff to send mass emails to students. The bookstore would not open until 12:00 p.m., with only course materials and supplies available for purchase. They were still processing web orders and opened for pick-up only at 9:00 a.m…