“My friend Becca texted our group chat saying Woodcrest was flooded,” said, Gabrielle Case a freshman, special education major. The former Woodcrest resident saw with her own two eyes how real it was when her roommate Mary Kate facetimed her while the water was filling the building.
A pipe on the second floor of Woodcrest burst Friday, March 25th around midnight. Over ninety residents from Woodcrest had to be relocated that Sunday. Residence life and public safety was there to help students figure out what was safe to take and what was water damaged.
“Everything under my bed, our microwave was broken and then my entire bed spread,” Case said.
Mary Kate Sapata, an early childhood education major was there when the pipe burst.
“First the fire alarm went off, so I thought that it was just as drill which didn’t make any sense because we were on break,” Sapata said. “I went outside and then one of the girls who was on the third floor was like, ‘did you see the second floor there was water everywhere?'”
Thinking nothing of the water she went back inside and put towels under her door just in case the water did reach her room.
“It’s really hard to connect with people in Xavier because their doors are always closed unlike how it was in Woodcrest,” Sapata said.
“People are mad that me, Gabby and others from Woodcrest were moved here but we can’t control that,” Sapata said. “We miss our RA Anna so much, she was the best RA.”
Moments later the water did in fact reach the 1st floor. Water came pouring out from her ceiling, the ceiling tiles came falling down. Woodcrest first floor according to Sapata was filled ankle deep with water. Including the students, five resident assistants who lived in Woodcrest were moved out.
“I am not a fan of house six,” said Nicholas Rotandi, freshman business management major. “It seems small, and I was separated from almost all of my friends. Living on this side of campus is just out of the way.”
Nick used to live on the second floor of Woodcrest. It took him over two and a half hours to move out of Woodcrest.
Xavier, East Residence Hall, the houses, and West Residence Hall all received an abundance of displaced Woodcrest residents that Sunday night and early the following morning.
“My mom woke me up because she saw the post on Facebook Saturday morning that Woodcrest flooded,” said biology major, Ashley Torres.
Torres and her mother drove to campus early Saturday and were able to remove her things even with the debris not fully cleaned up yet. It took her an hour to move her things into Xavier Hall but she was up until three in the morning organizing.
“My microwave, mattress pad, fans and t.v I left because it was all damaged,” Torres said.
Residents were encouraged to leave electronics that were believed to be beyond repair. Between all three of the girls nine hundred dollars was spent on new bedding, electronics, toiletries and clothes. Students could come as early as 10am on Sunday to collect their things. Around five thirty is when the removal of everyone’s belongings was finished.
“The thing I miss most about Woodcrest is being on the same floor as some great guys. I met some really awesome people in that dorm,” Rotandi said.
