???Goodyear Hall residents were left confused and out in the cold on Friday after a water leak forced officials to evacuate the building.
???Students waited outside in the snow for several hours while university faculty attempted to isolate the source of the incident.
???"The flooding caused me to be out of my building for almost three hours," said Lauren Kaps, a freshman business major. "Everyone was pushed to Clement [Hall]."
???The leak reportedly began when a student on the ninth floor threw a football and hit a sprinkler system, which began gushing water. The water caused damage on several other floors.
???At the time of the incident, many students were confused about the cause of the situation. Several students believed that a main water pipe had burst, and at least one student believed there was a fire due to the fact that the alarms went off.
???Police and emergency personnel were stationed at the doors and did not allow residents to return for some time. After the leak was controlled, students were allowed to go back inside. Many were shocked by the condition of their rooms.
???"The floor of my dorm room was completely covered in water," said Jessica Dubato, a freshman communication major. "Everything on the floor was soaked."
???Kaps was not personally affected, but knew people in the building that were.
???"Though it has not affected me yet, it has affected two of my friend's rooms, leaving them with smelly damp rooms, windows opened, and having most of their textbooks and notebooks ruined," Kaps said.
???This is not the first time Goodyear has faced problems with flooding and water damage, according to Dubato.
???"This is the second time rooms have flooded in the building in the past month," Dubato said.
???The university has not previously made a commitment to pay for the damage caused by the water, according to Dubato.
???"Luckily no permanent damage was done to my stuff but it bothers me to know that even if it had done permanent damage, the school isn't reliable for it and nothing can be done about it," Dubato said.
???Representatives from Residence Halls and Apartments were unavailable for comment.
Additional reporting by Dibyasree Dutta and Jennifer Good.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
