Raven was the car of Sina Famenini’s dreams.
Famenini had saved his money from summer and work study jobs to lease the 2013 Chevrolet Camaro, which he affectionately named Raven because of its smooth black finish. The fourth-year molecular, cell and developmental biology student drove Raven from east Beverly Hills every day and parked on the bottom level of Parking Structure 4 over the summer while taking Medical College Admission Test classes in Westwood Village.
When he went to grab study materials from his car Tuesday afternoon, Famenini saw the river of water flowing along Bruin Walk, which he at first assumed came from a broken fire hydrant. He asked a passerby about the flood, who said the water was flowing into the parking lots underground.
“At that moment it was like a splash of cold water to the face,” Famenini said. “I realized at that moment that there was nothing I could do.”
As water quickly flooded Parking Structures 4 and 7 on Tuesday afternoon, long lines of cars waited to exit from them. Some cars made it out of the lots, though about a thousand more were trapped for days while workers pumped water out and examined the structural integrity of the underground garages.
In an early estimate, officials said most of the cars stranded in the structures belonged to UCLA students and staff.
On Thursday night, seven tow trucks began removing vehicles that had no water damage. The trucks removed a total of about 650 cars over three days, though some still remain in the parking structures as of press time.
Famenini said he expects his Camaro will be damaged because water on the lower level of Parking Structure 4 rose to about 5 feet above the ground. It was towed from the parking structure Sunday.
He recalled feeling overcome with helplessness while standing on Bruin Walk and seeing water slowly fill the parking structures while students outside ran and boogie-boarded through the water, taking pictures of each other.
He was unable to save Raven or his belongings inside – his original immunization records from Iran, for instance, and his favorite pair of UCLA sunglasses.
Since Tuesday, Famenini has been taking the bus and getting rides to Westwood from friends to get to his class. Starting this week, he will use a rental car through his insurance company, though he does not have any long-term transportation plans yet.
UCLA alumnus Bobak Mortazavi also left his car on the lower level of Parking Structure 4 during the flood. Mortazavi, who just finished his doctorate at UCLA, drives to campus two days each week to teach a computer science class.
“I have a feeling it’s going to be a few days before I even see my car, and (at this point) I expect it to be totaled,” he said on Wednesday.
Mortazavi was finishing up some papers in his office when a friend contacted him, asking if he’d seen pictures of the flood.
By the time he arrived in Bruin Plaza, he couldn’t enter the parking lot and retrieve his car, as officials told him the parking structure was closed.
Mortazavi said it was frustrating that he did not hear much official information about the incident other than a brief BruinAlert he received as he arrived in Bruin Plaza around 4:30 p.m.
Without a means of retrieving his car, he went to teach his computer science class for the next two hours.
About half an hour earlier, Eric Bollens was one of the last vehicle owners able to get into the parking structure, though it was already too late to save his car.
Bollens, a software architect at the UCLA Office of Information Technology, wanted to retrieve his Infiniti G37S but was held back by deep water flowing into the lower level of Parking Structure 4.
He had bought the sports car as a treat for himself after graduating from UCLA two years ago. But on Tuesday, it was stuck in the bottom of the lot while 5 feet of water accumulated around it.
Bollens said he does not know what he will do in the future once his car is removed. He said he plans to decide between indulging in another luxury car or buying a more economical replacement.
“The cars aren’t just money to us,” he said. “I had bought that car as a part of my identity. It’s a part of who I am.”
the fact they are sending out blanket statements about the possibility to retrieve our automobiles… , makes it hard for some of us file insurance claims. are most of the cars a loss? can they post a picture of the structures inside? something has to hurry up.. what help will UCLA give the students and staff here that are at a loss? …meanwhile…..
I totally agree, not even telling us how many inches of water hit each level of each structure is so nerve racking. Why is it so difficult to let us know? The suspense of the state of my car is killing me.