The cause of last week's leak in Flint Village has been determined, and residents whose apartments were flooded with inches of water moved back in this past Thursday. Now, University Residence Halls and Apartments (URHA) are investigating ways to prevent future pipe breaks.
According to Tom Tiberi, senior associate director and general manager for University Apartments, a frozen pipe that was part of the fire sprinkler system caused the leak.
"Essentially, there was a hole in the pipe. Ice buildup breaks the pipe, then it thaws. It broke right in the middle," Tiberi said. "We're lucky. There isn't any structural damage, just drywall repair and repainting."
On Wednesday, insulation will be installed in all Flint Village attics in an attempt to prevent the fire sprinkler system lines from freezing in the future. According to Tiberi, URHA will also hire an engineering firm to assess the current sprinkler system to see if the piping should be moved from the attic to the hallway to better control the temperature.
The two pipe breaks that have happened in Flint Village may be related to the positioning of the buildings.
"It seems to be more common in buildings that the wind is hitting directly. We've hired an engineering firm to see if this is an isolated problem or a bigger problem," Tiberi said. "We wanted to do as much as we could until we get the engineering firm in."
Tom Griffin, a junior mechanical and aerospace engineering major and resident of the room where the pipe break occurred, is worried that this could happen again.
"Being that it's always this cold in Buffalo," Griffin said, "the worry is still there."
The firm's investigation should take place within the next few days. Since it will be a comprehensive review of the entire complex's piping systems, finding a solution could take some time, according to Tiberi.
Tiberi said URHA would fix all pipe systems in Flint buildings if they decide to restructure them, and Tiberi said the project would be completed "before next winter."
"We certainly take this seriously and will do whatever it takes to protect against it happening again," he said.
This type of problem has not affected other apartment complexes.
"It's the only place we've had a problem," Tiberi said of Flint Village.
Overall, the damage caused by the leak has been less extensive than residents or URHA officials expected.
"I feel for the students, but overall...the damage was minimized based on the quickness of shutting the water off and getting our staff in to clean," Tiberi said. "We had 10 cleaning staff there within an hour extracting water."
However, when Griffin and Grant Sharman, a senior pharmaceutical sciences major, moved back into their apartment, flagrant signs of the flood still lingered.
"It seems like they maybe rushed us into the apartment," Griffin said. "Everything was still a little damp and smelled."
According to Tiberi, ceiling and wall repairs will be completed next week once everything has dried out.
"In Tom's apartment, there's still a big, gaping hole in his closet. They still have to fix that one," Sharman said. "Other than that, the only thing they have to do is paint, which I think should be happening next week."
Griffin will have to continue dealing with the aftermath of the leak for the next several weeks, as URHA maintenance workers will be patching up the hole and fixing cracks in the walls to restore his room to its original state.
"I'm going to be living here when they will be painting and repairing the walls," Griffin said. "It probably would have been better to do everything before moving us back in, but they probably have to wait until everything dries out and didn't want us staying in a hotel for a month until it was all done."
According to Tiberi, the carpet was salvaged and the mattresses will be reused.
"They're vinyl-covered so they weren't damaged," he said.
Griffin is in the process of reporting his laptop damaged as a result of the large amounts of water it was exposed to.
Kelly Haidar, small claims administrator for Environment, Health and Safety (the organization that handles claims procedures at UB), said she is gathering information about the situation, and does not yet know if the incident falls under university negligence or not.
"Each case is different so it's hard to really say," Haidar said.
Griffin will need to fill out a form and provide some proof of ownership such as a receipt or photo for his claim to be considered, she added.
Griffin and his roommates were compensated for food that rotted while they were displaced and living in the Comfort Inn for three days, and the replacement of small items such as their shower curtain. The University supplied Griffin with a $15 gift card to Wegmans, he said.
Photo: Breadchastick / Wikimedia Commons
