::Correction Appended::
An ASU freshman encountered 450 gallons of water Saturday, but the last thing she wanted to do was dive in.
Severe flooding in Best Hall on the Tempe campus has displaced 16 students and inconvenienced others.
Saturday evening, Naima Fatimi took a break from watching the ASU football game to stop by her dorm room on the third floor of Best C.
The economics freshman was sitting on her bed when she heard a loud noise and the emergency sprinkler system was activated.
“It sounded like an explosion,” she said. “And then black water started rushing out.”
Fatimi moved her laptop away from the rushing water as the fire alarm went off and ran downstairs to alert the front desk.
The Tempe Fire Department arrived minutes later and determined there was no fire but had difficulty turning off the water main to stop the flooding because the building’s floor plan was not available.
“It took them almost 30 minutes to turn the water off,” Fatimi said. “It was pouring down the stairs.”
Fatimi, a resident of the building’s outdoor extension, wasn’t allowed back upstairs to salvage any of her things until the water was stopped.
Residential Life spokeswoman Susan Walker said in an e-mail that the cause of the flooding was a broken sprinkler head that triggered the automatic system.
The fire department told Fatimi that the water was discolored because the sprinkler system is used so irregularly that the standing water in the pipes becomes rusty and dirty.
Thomas Richard, an ASU health and safety officer, said the damage worsened as the water leaked down the building into residential rooms on the second floor and a classroom and advising office on the first floor.
“The ceilings in the classroom and advising office crumbled,” he said.
Mike Reichling, spokesman for the Tempe Fire Department, said the water pressure was approximately 70 pounds per square inch, which he said was not out of the ordinary. He estimated that there were more than 450 gallons of water on the scene.
Sixteen residents — eight occupying rooms on the third floor and eight on the second floor — were temporarily relocated to the Hayden South residence hall.
Other students weren’t offered alternative rooms but still had to find new places to stay.
Mathematics sophomore Zach Tveraas said his room on the second floor of the hall’s outdoor extension wasn’t livable throughout the weekend.
“My bed was soaked; water was dripping down the walls; the carpet was wet,” he said.
Restoration company X-Treme Restoration placed industrial fans and dehumidifiers in the room.
“I couldn’t sleep there, but [Residential Life] didn’t think I should be assigned a new room, so I slept in a hammock in a neighboring building,” he said.
X-Treme Restoration owner Jody White said the company should be able to salvage almost all personal items in the rooms and advising office.
“We are using industrial fans to dry each room, dehumidifying, treating everything with microbials to combat any chemicals that may have been activated by the water and cleaning the carpets,” he said.
White said the company will be able to dry and save some computers and other electronics belonging to residents.
Residential Life is dry-cleaning all clothing and bedding in the rooms and replacing textbooks, Walker said.
It hasn’t been determined whether or not personal items will be replaced. Fatimi said she didn’t purchase insurance at the beginning of the semester.
Downstairs in the advising offices of Barrett, the Honors College, several senior theses from Spring 2008 were damaged.
“They are one-of-a-kind,” adviser Will Roberts said. “They were priority No. 1.”
White said the company should be able to salvage and dry all documents.
Students are expected to move back into their rooms no later than Wednesday, Walker said. The advising office will also be ready Wednesday and the classroom by Friday.
Reach the reporter at tessa.muggeridge@asu.edu.
The last name of biomedical engineering sophomore Albert Hsia was misspelled in the photo caption
