Early Sunday morning, Oct. 2, students residing in Potomac River Hall North got an unexpected surprise when a pipe burst on one of the upper floors of the building causing flooding to the rooms on the lower floors. A video shared by a concerned parent on the CNU Parents, Alumni, Students & Staff Facebook group depicted students standing in water that covered the floors, attempting to push the water around with brooms.

Mikaia Scott, a freshman psychology major who lives on the second floor of Potomac North, shared her experience. In the days leading up to the flooding incident, Scott and her suitemates noticed something wasn’t right with their toilet. At one point, Scott’s suitemate saw water on the floor around the toilet and thought it had flooded, but Scott assumed that somebody might have taken a shower and used the toilet, leaving extra water on the ground. Scott also explained that the toilet would continue to run for 30 seconds to a minute and they intended to report this to maintenance. 

However, they did not end up filing a work order before the water started rising up and flooding out of the toilet around 2:00 a.m on Sunday. They tried to mitigate the issue by placing down towels but the water continued to flood the bathroom and the hall. The water leaked into other people’s rooms and to the floor below. Scott said this continued for 20-30 minutes. Her roommate closed the bathroom door and by the time she opened it again there was two to three feet of water on the ground.

The Captain’s Log reached out to the university to find out what exactly happened and what caused the incident. When asked why the pipes burst, a spokesperson for University Housing said, “A water leak can occur for many reasons. Sometimes it can be weather or damage related, other times it can be that the specific item has worn out or broke down.” 

They said that the problem started on the fourth floor and once this was identified the leak was temporarily fixed. Final repairs were set to be handled on Monday, Oct. 3. With regards to students who have damaged rooms and belongings, the spokesperson said, “Damaged rooms are being repaired and a restoration company was brought onsite to address the cleanup promptly. Students with damaged belongings should work through their insurance company. The university does not offer any liability coverage for students’ personal belongings.”