The Flood in Flather

Image Courtesy of Lily Chambers

By Zachary Lichter

On Tuesday, January 24, 2023, Flather Hall experienced a flood on the second floor. 

Freshman politics major Lily Chambers went into the garbage room to throw something out, and she almost slipped and fell. She noticed the water was leaking out of the drain in the middle of the room, and there were particles in the water. The water then leaked its way onto the carpet in the middle of the hallway. All of a sudden, the bathroom began to start flooding. Chambers called maintenance first, and they told her she would need to send a request. She then saw her Resident Assistant (RA) and told her what had happened.

The RA reached out to Renee Raymond, who is the Community Director of North Neighborhood Two, which is composed of Ryan, Regan, and Flather Halls, and told her about the flood. She then emailed all of the residents who lived on the second floor of Flather Hall notifying them about the flood. Facilities asked the residents to not use the showers in Flather while they are fixing the leak. Anyone who needed to take a shower before the leak was fixed had the opportunity to go to Regan Hall. They just needed to notify the Home Security Assistant in Regan or if one of the residents in Flather had a friend in Regan to let them in and use their shower. Residents also could talk to their RA or the RA on-call in other dormitories where they can take a shower.

Freshman politics major and French minor, Maddeline Kinney gave her comments.

“I was at a meeting, and my roommate texted me that the trash room was flooding,” Kinney said. “I told one of my friends who was at the meeting and also lives on the second floor if she heard about the flooding, so she texted her roommate. That’s when the bathroom started flooding, and since she lives right across from the bathroom, she left the meeting early.”

What ended up causing the flood? The answer was a clogged pipe and Facilities had to shut the water off for forty minutes. After Facilities fixed the pipe, the water was turned on in Flather. People were able to use the showers again.

Victor David, who is the interim director of residence life gave his comments about the flood.

“I was informed of it as it happened and the aftermath,” David said. “Unfortunately, we were unaware that there was a pipe issue until the moment it began flooding the floor. As soon as it was reported, Residence Life and Facilities staff responded. As of today, I believe the floor and carpet are now dried and fully cleaned and normal water service is running through Flather.”