WSU dorm water damage leaves residents displaced

Residents were moved to Rogers Hall

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Stephenson East 8th floor is flooded

CHLOE EKSTROM, Evergreen reporter

The eighth floor of Stephenson East was flooded by a fire sprinkler leak at 10 p.m. Oct. 18, displacing dozens of residents to Rogers Hall.

One of the displaced residents, Griffen Wold, first-year environmental and ecosystem sciences major, said it was rumored that the leak was caused by a student hanging on the sprinkler in the eighth—floor common space, though WSU has not confirmed this.

The Resident Life staff was unable to comment on the incident.

Student photo of flooding damage

Stephenson East resident Izzy Roe pre-nursing major, was home the night the fire alarms went off, evacuating the entire building. On her way out of the dorm facility, Roe watched as large amounts of water poured from every crack of the closed elevator doors on the fourth floor. This force of water continued all the way down to the ground floor as students were exiting the facility.

“I can’t imagine going up and down all those stairs, I would never go to class,” Roe said.

The situation is much worse for those that lived on the eighth floor. The residents of Stephenson East on the eighth floor were driven out of their rooms by a flood, losing several of their valuables and necessities all in one night, Wold said.

The eighth-floor residents were moved to Rogers Hall following the incident.

“I’ve been sleeping on my fraternity’s couch for the past month. I honestly would rather couch surf than move into Rogers,” he said.

The night the sprinkler leak occurred, Wold said a lot of his personal property was damaged, including his vintage vinyl collection worth thousands of dollars.

Wold said he is unable to access his room where several of his belongings remain. For the last month, he has lived with only what he could carry after his dorm flooded, said Wold.

WSU that the impacted residents will receive relief from the university’s Emergency Relief Fund. However, the university has not yet given out compensation for the damage or given a date as to when they will, Wold said.

The lack of communication from the university has been a big issue for Wold.

“The university has been no help,” he said.

Wold has finally been placed in a new dorm, a decision he made because the date his original dorm will be fixed is still undetermined, however, he is unable to move into his new dorm currently.

He said he hopes to see compensation for his damaged property soon and asks that the university handle any future situations that compare better in the future.