Extensive flooding in Spruce College House forced 10 people to the Sheraton University City Hotel Monday night.
The third-floor incident in the Ashhurst section of Spruce was caused by a broken sprinkler pipe. The damage resulted when College freshman Jesse Schreger used the pipe in his closet as a clothes rack.
"All year, I've been hanging my jacket there," Schreger said. "Last night, I heard a pop ... . Before the fire department came in, the water had gotten above the ankle -- it was pretty bad."
Though many were displaced, the damages to student property were minimal, according to residents. Facilities officials, however, said that renovations will be necessary.
Schreger tried to block the water gushing from the pipe and called maintenance around midnight. In the meantime, other rooms on the floor were flooded.
"There were two inches of water in our room," College freshman Becky Hughes said. "We had to go out [in the courtyard] for about 40 minutes, then we came back in and were told to get stuff off the floor."
She added that the water dripped through the ceiling into the rooms of students living on the first and second floors.
When they returned to their rooms, Facilities had vacuumed up all the water from the floor. At 3 p.m. yesterday, a Maintenance crew mopped the pavement dry and assessed the damages.
"I can't complain about Maintenance. They were really good," Schreger said. "They shut [the water] off as soon as they got there."
The response was prompt enough to allow most students to place their belongings out of harm's way. Residents reported few damages to either their rooms or their property.
"We saved everything," Hughes said. "I feared for my printer, but it's working perfectly."
However, the wood flooring in the rooms warped because of the water.
Some of the walls were damaged as well, with paint peeling off, Facilities Services Director Betsy Robinson said.
The Maintenance crew said that some pavements would have to be changed, and that the residents living there could potentially be moved to other rooms, Hughes said.
"It depends if the student can be displaced," Robinson said.
She added that the repairs to the floors and walls will be completed during spring break or the summer at the residents' convenience.
College freshman Erin Stafford said that the house's computer laboratory was also affected and was closed to students yesterday.
To avoid immediate inconveniences to the affected residents, the Maintenance crew "asked who wanted to spend the night at the Sheraton," Stafford said.
Eight people from the third floor -- including Hughes, Stafford, Schreger and his roommate -- and two students from the floor below spent the night in the hotel. Others found space to sleep in friends' rooms, Hughes said.
