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“We moved it up to the highest point,” Beth Schoenborn said as she stood outside the parking structure.

The water pipe, which carries 75,000 gallons per minute when it’s functioning, broke at about 3:30 p.m. and was shut off about 3 1/2 hours later, Department of Water and Power spokesman Jim McDaniel said. An estimated 8 million to 10 million gallons were released, McDaniel said.

“Unfortunately, we lost a lot of water, around 35,000 gallons a minute, which is not ideal in the worst drought in the city’s history,” City Councilman Paul Koretz said, “so we ask everybody to try harder to conserve water.”

Three buildings were damaged, in addition to Pauley Pavilion and the Wooden Center, the J.D. Morgan Center, which houses the school’s sports trophies and athletics offices was also flooded.

Fire and police officials swarmed the chaotic scene that featured helicopters hovering overhead and backpack-bearing students wading across campus in ankle-deep water. Meanwhile, some fun-seekers went in the water with body boards.

Patrick Huggins and Matthew Bamberger, two 18-year-olds who live in nearby Westwood, said they were having a boring summer day until Huggins’ mother told them about the water.

“It was about up to my thigh, and I thought this is a good day for a little dip,” Huggins said.

The two shot video of themselves diving and splashing in the badly flooded practice putting green used by the golf team.

Paul Phootrakul of the UCLA Alumni Association, who was in business attire for an evening event, took off his dress shoes and dress socks, and rolled up his slacks in an attempt to wade to his car. Firefighters stopped him, saying the parking structure was not steady because of the weight of all the water.

“I was trying to move my car without getting wet so I’m presentable for this event,” he said. “I definitely know that the cars on the bottom floor, my best bet, are gone or totaled. I don’t have much hope for my car.”

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