A pipe burst and flooded the west wing of Allison Hall on Thursday night, displacing about 35 students on the second, third and fourth floors.
There was “significant water damage” and many students would not be able to sleep in their rooms, said Kwanda Scott, the coordinator for Allison. The flooding started in the fourth-floor laundry room and seeped down at least two floors. The cause of the broken pipe is unknown.
It is not known whether the sprinkler system also went off.
Students evacuated the building at about 9:30 p.m. after a fire alarm went off. At 10:45 p.m., a crowd of about 100 students heard Scott’s announcement and were allowed back in the building. No injuries were reported.
Scott announced that students could not return to at least 15 rooms: at least 10 on the fourth floor, three on the third and two on the second. Community assistants stopped students from entering the damaged halls.
Communication sophomore Gabriela Mendieta was in the fourth-floor laundry room when the pipe broke.
“I was soaked,” Mendieta said. “I was taking laundry out of the washer and water started coming down. I screamed and ran out of the room. There better not be any acid or anything on my clothes or I’m suing the school.”
Weinberg freshman Lauren Mesa said she and her roommate heard a scream and then the sound of rushing water.
“We saw the water,” Mesa said. “It was shooting out of the ceiling. It was gushing on the floor and you could see it spread down the carpet.”
Students living in damaged rooms met with Mark D’Arienzo, associate director of housing, at 10:45 p.m. to discuss alternative housing options. Some students signed up to sleep in vacant rooms in Public Affairs Residential College while others told D’Arienzo they would stay in dry Allison rooms with friends.
“You run the risk of seriously electrocuting yourself if you go into the wet rooms,” D’Arienzo said. “I’d rather you be pissed and alive than fried.”
Early Friday, university crews were using dry vacs to dry the areas.
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