Flood damage not as serious as first feared

Dozens of Quadrangle residents returning to their rooms yesterday morning found less personal property damage than expected, just twelve hours after a broken sprinkler head flooded Butcher and Speakman dormitories Wednesday night and forced them to spend the night elsewhere. And although approximately 1300 gallons of warm, brown water were released during the flood, Ronald Jasner, a claims supervisor in the University's risk management office, estimated the flood caused less than $5000 in structural damage to the building, mostly to walls and floor tiles. Residential Living officials said they were investigating the cause of the flood, which is believed to have begun when a lacrosse ball struck a sprinkler head on the fourth floor of Butcher. Residential Living Director Gigi Simeone said she learned yesterday that one of the students involved had come forward. She said any kind of disciplinary action the University might take against the students "will be determined" sometime in the future. Many residents said only their carpets and some clothing had been soaked by the water, which began flowing from a sprinkler head on Butcher's fourth floor just before 8 p.m. and continued to flow until Physical Plant workers shut off the water nearly 20 minutes later. Even Wharton freshman Geoff Lee, who said he returned Wednesday evening to find his room "dripping all over the place" and his stereo making "popping sounds," said last night that his stereo was already in fine working order. But some students living on the third floor, where most of the leaking brown water traveled first before dripping all the way down to the basement, reported such problems as malfunctioning telephones and, in one case, a damaged computer. "It was a bad situation -- I can't deny that," said James Miller, director of Fire and Occupational Safety at Physical Plant. "But the total damage is not as bad as I expected under the circumstances." Residential Living's Simeone agreed that structural damage to the building appeared to be limited, but said she was concerned that students' personal property had been damaged, even if only slightly. Jasner said the University would not reimburse students whose property was damaged or ruined, because the University's occupancy agreement stipulates that students are responsible for their personal property. When University officials realized that the 120 students on living on the third and fourth floors of Butcher and Speakman would not be allowed to returned to their rooms anytime Wednesday night, arrangements were made to house them in High Rise East for the night. But Vice Deputy Provost George Koval said only about 10 students took the University's offer. Most of the affected students found accomodations with friends, and about 25 students spent the night around the corner in a lounge in Ashurst dormitory. During the flood Wednesday night, many students complained that officials did not act quickly enough to shut off the water. But Residential Maintenance Director Lynn Horner defended Physical Plant, saying the department could not have acted faster because an operator first had to be called to the Quad from another part of campus. She said workers then had to wait until a Philadelphia Fire Department unit responding to a fire alarm caused by the flood could determine if there was a fire.

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