Students may have heard stories about life in the River, but residents in Hinman Hall never realized they would have to take it so literally -- on Tuesday night, water from a broken shut-off valve flooded the third floor of the residence hall.
"I was shocked to see an inch of water going down my hallway. But it definitely added excitement to the evening," Laura Goodrich '05 said.
According to Safety and Security Officer Ted Willey, faulty plumbing in the women's bBurst pipe causes flood in Hinmanathroom caused the flood. "Due to the age of the building and the plumbing," he said, "water rusted through a shut-off valve. It just burst."
Matt Fitzgerald '04, undergraduate advisor on the third floor, was one of the first to notice the problem. "I was under the sink holding the pipe together, but suddenly it came off. Then water flooded out."
Approximately 300 gallons of water seeped out onto the carpet and down the hallway. Students were scrambling to block water from entering their rooms. "We put towels in front of our door to prevent it from going further into our room," Chris Kane '05 said.
The deluge then found its way down to the second floor hallway. "All of the sudden, water began dripping from the ceiling right outside of my room," said Kirstin Ellison '05.
Water also leaked into the second floor men's bathroom through the shower pipes. "It smells like sewage," said Matt Bell '05.
Negligible amounts of water leakage were found in the first floor and basement. Safety and Security called in a water vacuum to clean up the mess.
Woody Eckels, director of Residental Operations, assured Hinman residents that there was nothing further to worry about.
"There was a broken valve under one of the sinks, but they repaired that." He believes that similar incidents are not likely to happen to River buildings in the future.
Not all students agreed. "If they don't give us better buildings, we're going to transfer to Harvard," Kelly Grogan '05 said with a laugh.
Hinman was dry once again by yesterday morning.
