Within a week of the Allison Hall flood, Stephanie Gross had Northwestern doing her laundry.

The Weinberg freshman handed over several bags of items that were damaged in the Jan. 19 flood that soaked her room and many others. The university dry-cleaned the clothes that were salvageable and reimbursed Gross $590 to cover the rest: a pair of Ugg boots, a pair of shoes, a comforter and a towel.

“It wasn’t too much of a hassle,” Gross said. “They’ve taken care of it pretty well.”

Gross is one of 23 Allison residents who have been reimbursed for damaged property.

Assistant Director of Risk Management Leland Roth said students had been reimbursed a total of about $14,000. He said he expects the total to go up once he receives reimbursement forms from two more students.

A broken sprinkler head in Allison’s fourth-floor laundry room caused the flood, administrators said. NU Executive Housekeeper Bashir Kudsi said he had “no idea” why the sprinkler malfunctioned, but added that his staff was ready to deal with the emergency.

“Although these things rarely happen, they do happen, and we just need to be able to deal with them quickly,” he said.

About 35 Allison students were displaced while their carpets were vacuumed and surfaces were dried and disinfected, Roth said.

Most students reported damaged clothing and shoes. Roth said he assessed the damage and reimbursed students based on prices for comparable items on the Internet.

“We took care of a bulk of the damage by having clothes washed or dry-cleaned,” Roth said. “Everything else was taken care of on an individual basis.”

Only one laptop was ruined by the flood, Roth said. Most electronic items were not affected because the water was only about one inch high by the time it was vacuumed.

Some students said they didn’t bother reporting damages. Weinberg sophomore Jason Eng said a couple of his textbooks were drenched when water seeped into his fourth-floor room. But he had midterms the next week and said he didn’t want to submit his books for reimbursement.

“Our room was lucky in that there was minimal damage,” Eng said. “But we had the usual problems – everything was wet and uncomfortable for a day or two. The whole room felt damp.”

The carpets are dry and the walls are clean now, but Eng said he is concerned about the long-term effects of mold.

“One of my biggest concerns right now is that there’s a health hazard growing in our room,” Eng said.

Kudsi said the carpets and walls should not be susceptible to mold because the water was vacuumed within a couple of hours of the flood.

“(A) quick response made all the difference,” he said.

Reach Abha Bhattarai at [email protected].