Two recent pipe bursts in residence halls has led to flooding in rooms, causing property damage for some while others have had to relocate.
A pipe burst on the third floor of Hardwick Hall led to students to be evacuated from the building around 5:45 p.m. Monday. According to an email sent to residents from Kevin Williams, director of Residential Life, the Hardwick pipe burst due to issues with the heating system.
In 1940 Residence Hall, the back half of the ground floor sustained water damage after a sprinkler burst, a university spokesman said.
Second-floor Hardwick resident Melissa Truex said she had to evacuate her room.
“We got evacuated, we all had to go outside,” she said.
“I was sitting in my dorm room, freezing cold as usual, because the heat doesn’t work,” said second-floor Hardwick resident Andrea Procaccio during the evacuation of the building.
“All of the Hardwick residents [were] freaked out in the lobby,” said Johnson resident Kelsey Mallon, who added that students were initially not informed of the reason for the evacuation.
“They wouldn’t tell anyone what was going on,” Mallon added. “It was a free-for-all.”
Multiple residents reported heat problems in Hardwick leading up to the pipe burst. Truex said she and her roommate bought a space heater due to the heat not working.
Eighth-floor Hardwick resident Sarah Beshara said the heat was not on in her room in the four days leading up to the pipe burst, so she slept in a friend’s room on another floor.
“It felt like I was outside,” Beshara said of her room. “It … was like 40 degrees in there.”
Beshara added that heating problems have been a common occurrence in the Hardwick Overbrook lounge she has lived in since mid-November, where she claims the heat was not turned on for a period then.
“They did this in the beginning of the year too,” she said. “Winter just started and it started getting really cold, our heat wouldn’t turn on either. It went a few days before they turned it on.”
Beshara said that the lack of heat in her room has caused her and her roommates to become sick with colds.
Multiple students also reported seeing water damage in the building due to the pipe burst.
Truex added that the third-floor lounge and a room near it suffered the most serious damage.
“They weren’t allowed to sleep [in the room last night],” Truex said.
Williams advised students with property affected by the flood to log it and send claims which will be reviewed by Temple’s Office of Risk Management. All wet fabrics should be washed to avoid mold and mildew issues, he said.
After each incident, maintenance crews responded with dehumidifiers and fans to remove the water, clean carpets and mop floors.
The spokesman added that two students had returned to their rooms by Wednesday night, and that four other residents affected are still awaiting re-entry.
The events in Hardwick and 1940 come days after a similar pipe burst incident on the 11th floor of Morgan Hall North displaced several residents.
Christian Matozzo can be reached at christian.matozzo@temple.edu.
Joe Brandt and Steve Bohnel contributed reporting.
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