A busted pipe in Edwards Hall led to an unexpected Monday night, when the men of Edwards had to struggle against waves and gushes of water throughout the south wing.

On February 4, around 10 p.m. a simple air-conditioner leak turned into a major flood. When several students found a considerable sized puddle in the second floor of the south wing, physical resources was contacted while a trash can was used to contain the leakage. Residence Assistant for Edwards, Jake Hall, junior English education major from Springtown, received calls from his residents that the seepage was getting worse.

“A physical resource employee, who was fixing the leak, was starting to rip-off the insulation for the pipe and as soon as he did that, one of the main joints for the air-conditioner pipe just popped,” Hall said. “It started pouring down like Niagara falls.”

Matthew Bornmann, sophomore finance major from San Antonio, said, “I was about to take a walk, when a guy asks me whether I had seen the waterfall in the stairwell. I followed him into the stairwell and it is just a mess of water. I opened the door into the second floor and it was just raining in that hallway. I could see and hear that a pipe had burst.”

The burst pipe was located on the ceiling of the second floor. The water seeped through the walls into the first floor. It did not affect the third floor.

Hall said a physical resource employee had to use his hand to try to stop the flow while waiting for more assistance to come. A broomstick was used as a temporary plug before approximately 10-15 physical resource employees and professional cleaners came to the scene. The employees and cleaners worked night and day to vacuum and redirect the flow out of the building.

Students that were affected received very little damage. Most of the personal belongings that got wet were clothes on the floor. Moreover, Curtis Smith, area coordinator for Edwards Hall, and his wife were forced to move out as the flood poured into their apartment.

“For as much water as there was, there was very little damage,” Smith said. “We are just very blessed for how much help there was and the little damage.”

Curtis and his wife stayed in a hotel for a few nights before moving back in to their apartment. Residence Life, even though there was very little damage, reimbursed those that were affected. Work has been ongoing to change the carpets in the building. Areas that were flooded were blocked off and humidifiers and fans were used to dry the areas.