"It was like a scene from Titanic," said Chen Chen, a senior finance major, about the flood that caused significant damage to four rooms in the 307 building of Flint Village Apartments.
At about 5 p.m. on Monday night, students in apartments six, seven, 14 and 15 were soaked with cold water that spewed out of the ceiling. Minutes later, the lights began flickering and the entire building was evacuated.
"I was watching TV when I heard a really big burst noise, kind of like thunder, then rushing water. A couple seconds later, it started coming out through the ceiling light, sprinkler system and the corners of the room," said Tom Griffin, a junior mechanical and aerospace engineering major.
According to the residents, the fire alarm did not sound for the first few minutes of the flooding, so Chen called University Police, who arrived at the scene at about 5:03 p.m.
The residents estimate that it was about 20 minutes after their arrival when the water was turned off. According to the police report, UP officers contacted the Chilled Water Plant at University Facilities to shut off and clean up the leak.
The power to the building was cut because water was filling up in lights and seeping into the sockets, resulting in an electricity-charged environment, Jamie, an assistant complex director, told residents waiting in the Flint Community Building.
"There was probably 20 to 30 minutes of actual flooding," Griffin said. "I got electrocuted a few times while I was trying to move stuff."
When Griffin left the building, there were about four or five inches of water on the ground in his room. His roommate, Grant Sharman, a senior pharmaceutical sciences major, estimated that there were two to three inches of water in his room and the common area.
Griffin and Sharman immediately began moving their belongings off the floor as their ceilings drooped with the weight of the leaking water.
"We were told to get out of our rooms because the ceiling might cave in," Chen said.
"It was like a waterfall," Sharman added.
According to the police report issued by UP, the cause was a broken water pipe. Tom Tiberi, senior associate director and general manager for University Apartments, said that it is not uncommon for pipes to freeze at cold temperatures, especially during windy conditions. The Weather Channel Web site reported that wind chills were as low as -22 degrees on Monday.
This is the second pipe break in Flint Village (one occurred last year in building 306) and there have been three others in on-campus dorms in the last year.
It is thought that the leak occurred in the sprinkler system, according to Tiberi. Mark Smith, a plumbing estimator at Roto Rooter in Buffalo, said that freezing can occur if the pipe lines are on exterior walls. Within the last four years, builders have begun to install water lines on interior walls so the heat will keep it from freezing. Flint Village was completed in 2001, several years before the trend began.
Smith pointed out other preventative measures that can be taken to avoid frozen pipes, such as applying heat tape, which keeps the pipes warm with a low voltage electric current.
Residents were unable to enter the building for several hours as the fire alarm system stopped working and cleaners were extracting water, according to Darren Portis, assistant director for University Apartments. Community Assistants were stationed in the building to watch for fires until fire system techs arrived sometime after 6:50 p.m.
The leak was completely stopped and crews started repairing the pipe at about 7:30 p.m., according to Portis.
On Monday night, Sharman and Griffin, along with the other residents of the affected apartments, were given rooms at the Comfort Inn on Flint Road. All others were allowed back into the building at about 10:30 p.m.
In the interim, University Apartments provided food, drinks and games in the Flint Community Building.
The Green Line Shuttle's services have been extended to Comfort Inn to accommodate the displaced students.
Flint Village Director, Anthony DiCerbo, said the exact cause of the leak is still under investigation.
"Currently, we are working on the situation...we're in the process of assessing what's taken place," DiCerbo said Tuesday morning, adding that they have not yet determined the extent of the damage.
However, Portis did say that the two rooms on the far end of the building are "substantially damaged," and Tiberi said there is water and drywall damage.
According to Sharman, the roommates have not been able to plug in their electronics to test whether or not they are damaged.
The damage is not as bad as Griffin and Sharman expected; initially, Griffin thought that he would not be able to live in his apartment for the rest of the semester. Now he expects to be back in by this weekend.
Chen thinks that the University should reimburse them for any items that end up being damaged.
"This is completely their fault," Chen said.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
