Barricades constructed from duct tape, bureaus and toilet paper were ironically juxtaposed with a colorful "Happy Birthday" poster on the bottom floor of the Speakman entryway in Ware College House last night -- remnants of a birthday celebration to remember for College freshman Arthur Heilbronn.
Heilbronn and his 11 hallmates were faced with about three inches of rainwater and sewage penetrating their living space after water began gushing up from two holes in the tiled floor of their hallway at approximately 6:15 p.m. Twenty-eight of the bottom-floor residents from the Butcher and Speakman halls in the Quadrangle were evacuated to the nearby Sheraton for an undetermined period of time.
Harrison and Harnwell college houses, along with the McNeil Building, also experienced damage sparked by yesterday's storm, making basement flooding a common theme across campus.
Though residents of Speakman said the experience "brought the hall together," they also seemed extremely disturbed by the situation, according to Engineering freshman Justin Steinberg.
"This is the last place in West Philly I expected to be covered in shit," he said. After discovering one of the leaks spouting from the floor, Steinberg said the hall "worked together to try to stop it from spreading."
But despite the students' best efforts -- including sacrificing numerous towels and T-shirts for absorption purposes -- the mix of water and excrement quickly seeped into many students' rooms, destroying clothes, electronics and other personal possessions.
"It's just spewing all over the place," College freshman Brianna Morgan said of the foul concoction. "We have a little bit of animosity towards the school at this point."
Heilbronn -- who came back from a birthday dinner with his parents to discover the mess -- noted the intensity of the flood.
It was "as if you had turned on a faucet," he said. "It's already bad enough that we're in the basement. ... Now we have shit in our rooms."
On the other side of campus, the basement of Harrison was covered with an approximately three-inch deep layer of brown water that was flowing in freely from underneath a door opening into the Harrison courtyard. The courtyard itself was swamped with about six to eight inches of water.
"When you get off the elevators, it's a lake," Harrison security guard Von Love said of the basement flooding, which was reported around 7 p.m. and eventually spread to the exercise room and the Rathskellar lounge.
Though additional Facilities and Real Estate Services workers were deployed to assist with the water issues, the flooding seemed to remain resistant to their efforts
"As soon as you open the door, everything is rushing in," Facilities worker Lee Quintana said, as he attempted to suck water from the lounge floor with a water vacuum.
"It really doesn't do the job. ... It's filled up in a matter of two minutes," he said of the device.
Students seemed surprised by the intensity of the damage.
"I've lived here for four years, and I've never known this building to flood like this," said Carrie Greene, a College senior and resident adviser on the 23rd floor.
Wharton sophomore Varun Jalan noted the widespread effects of the liquid intrusion.
"You can hear water trickling down the elevator shaft," he said, describing the leaves and dirt in the rainwater as "atrocious."
"No one has left their rooms -- everyone's ordering in," he said.
But the flooding was not restricted to residence halls, with the McNeil Building subject to several internal issues as well.
"The roof drains are overflowing. It's coming in too fast," Shift Operations Manager Gary Brenner said of the periods of heavy rain that the storm pounded on Philadelphia throughout the evening.
"As long as it's a steady rain, it won't be an issue," Brenner said, but "15 minutes after a downpour," the sump pumps designed to drain water from the building can become overloaded.
As of 10 p.m. last night, Brenner described McNeil as "controlled," but cautioned that the condition could deteriorate if "it really starts raining hard again."
