The Flood of Memorial
So, as graduation quickly approaches, I thought I would post some blogs about different events that took place over the past 4 years. The first of this series is about the time our dorm flooded freshman year. I was driving down 8th street yesterday, and there was a firetruck outside Allan with tons of boys standing outside, and it took me straight back to that night when we all stood outside Memorial waiting for them to tell us what was going on in our home.
I had been out of town that weekend. I do not remember where, but I think I was at my grandparents’ house, because I brought back clean laundry. As I walked across the street around 10:00 PM, I could hear sirens, but I was not sure which dorm they were coming from. I entered the back door, and could hear a loud pounding noise. As I walked up the stairs toward the third floor, I found the source of the noise. Water was pouring down the stairs like a waterfall. I stepped around the water and entered my hall. Everything seemed normal there, except for the fact that it was deserted and the alarms were going off. I opened the door to my room, and saw water flooding in underneath the bathroom door. I put my clean clothes on my bed and then walked out. I did not open the bathroom door because I did not want to see what was behind it.
In the front of the building, everyone who had been in the dorm watched as different officials and firemen walked in and out of the dorm. We waited for hours. Finally, they told us that everyone who did not live on the east hallway was good because the flood had only been on one side. Those who did live on the east hallway could go into their rooms, grab what they needed, and find another place to stay for the night. Walking in was completely surreal. Water was everywhere… Inches of water all over our floors. Rachel and my room was not half as bad as some of the others.
The next day, we moved everything out so that cleaners could come get all of the water out. Walls were deteriorating in closets and orange goop was dripping from the bathrooms. Most of our stuff was fine, but other girls lost computers, cameras, printers, and tvs. We had to spend another night in a different place, but after that they gave us the choice to sleep there or somewhere else. It smelt awful, and there were really loud fans everywhere, but we chose to stay there.
Looking back, it’s such a strange memory. Sometimes I am like, “Did that really happen?” Oh, it sure did. But we survived.
The hallway shortly after the flood.
Books and notes laying out to dry.
Our room, with a giant fan in the middle of the bathroom doorway.
This thing lived in our bathroom for a while.
The orange stuff dripping from the ceiling.
