UCLA flood: More than 300 damaged cars can be picked up Tuesday

About 340 cars damaged by a massive flood at UCLA will be available for pickup by their owners Tuesday morning at parking lots next to Jackie Robinson Stadium, a university spokesman said.

The vehicles will be available Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., spokesman Tod Tamberg said.

“There could be cars with water that went halfway up the wheel,” he previously told The Times. “The owners may be able to drive those off, and if they do that will be terrific. For others, it will be a tough day emotionally to see their car ruined.”

When owners descend on the lot Tuesday, it will have been a week since they last saw their cars. A water-main break on Sunset Boulevard created a massive sinkhole and flooded several structures at UCLA, including parking lots 4 and 7.

Tamberg said Monday that all the cars had been towed from the two structures, and water was completely drained from both facilities. The lower garage levels had been submerged to the ceiling.

About 600 undamaged cars had already been towed to UCLA Lot 36, and as of Monday afternoon, about 130 remained on the lot, Tamberg said.

In addition to the two parking structures, the millions of gallons of water released by the break flooded several other campus buildings, including Pauley Pavilion – the school’s storied basketball arena.

Both UCLA Athletic Director Dan Guerrero and the mayor’s office have said the arena will be ready for the UCLA men’s and women’s basketball seasons.

The college has begun a “crowdfunding” campaign aimed at raising $1 million to help with repair work and victim assistance. By Monday it had raised more than $43,000.

Sunset Boulevard also reopened early Monday morning when crews finished repaving the stretch adjacent to the UCLA campus. The mayor’s office said drivers will be required to travel at reduced speeds on the affected part of the street, which will close overnight Friday and Saturday as crews continue final repairs, officials said.

The cause of the water-main break, which occurred at the juncture of two trunk lines running underneath Sunset, is under investigation. But Joe Ramallo, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said “at this point, corrosion is suspected.”

The DWP has tentatively assumed responsibility for at least some of the damage, making claim forms available online at https://www.ladwp.com/claims.

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