A pipe burst on the sixth floor of McDowell Hall around 2 p.m. yesterday, causing all rooms ending in 19 and 21 to receive varying degrees of damage, according to residents of McDowell Hall.
Residents of the sixth floor of McDowell reported the leak at 1:20 p.m., according to Chris Moody, the executive director of Housing and Dining Programs. Residence staff and Facilities Management staff immediately responded to the situation and assessed the damage.
The staff of Facilities Management then turned off the water supply to the affected heating units and pipes. Water had also leaked down to rooms on the third, fourth and fifth floors.
Aramark staff members arrived on the scene and began drying up the wet carpets.
Lauren Linhard, a junior in the School of Communication and a contributing writer for The Eagle, was in her room on the sixth floor when the hot-water pipe burst.
“It sounded like rain was hitting the window, then water was pouring down the sides of my wall and a few of my ceiling tiles fell,” Linhard said.
Linhard’s roommate, Rachel Goldy, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, went down to the front desk and notified the resident assistant on duty, who then notified Leonard Hall Resident Director Julie Eller and the Facilities Management staff.
Goldy was pleased with the quick response time and open communication from Housing and Dining.
“People from Housing and Dining and the residence staff have been checking up on me and my roommate and helping us move our furniture,” Goldy said.
Matt Wolkoff, a sophomore in CAS, lives in a room on the third floor of McDowell that was affected by water damage from the pipe burst. Wolkoff was sitting in his room when water suddenly started rushing from the ceiling tiles down his wall and his window.
“What started out as a steady drip of water soon became a downpour,” Wolkoff said.
Wolkoff’s carpet sustained damage and one of his posters was ruined.
He was disappointed with the staff response to the incident, he said.
“I was unsatisfied with how they handled it but not surprised,” Wolkoff said. “I didn’t hear about [the pipe burst] until someone else on my floor told me. They also weren’t as thorough as they could have been with cleaning the floor. They were only in here cleaning for about five minutes.”
All but one of the residents affected were in their rooms at the time of the pipe burst, according to Moody. Residents have reported damage to ceiling tiles, room carpets and one mattress, which has already been replaced.
Moody said Facilities Management staff is still in the process of assessing the damage and making decisions about repairs.
Last Tuesday morning an unidentified person tampered with the sprinklers on the Anderson 5 North bridge, causing a flood, The Eagle previously reported. Numerous rooms sustained water damage when the sprinklers were activated.
You can reach this staff writer at jryan@theeagleonline.com.
