Blackwell became a reservoir Thursday as a resident accidentally set off a sprinkler at about 10:30 p.m., flooding the dormitory.
A student in room 206 hung something on the sprinkler in her room, activating it, police officers on the scene told students. Water filled the room, flowed down the hall and leaked through the floor to rooms below.
Residents reported that the sprinklers stayed on for about 30 minutes and the water was several inches deep in parts of the hall.
About 20 rooms sustained water damage, students said.
Fire alarms went off, and officials evacuated the building. Sarah Andrews, a graduate assistant in Blackwell, said residents in affected rooms would not be able to move back until Friday at the earliest.
Residents’ reactions varied, with some women who live on the drenched hall crying and other students donning ponchos to slide down the overflow outside.
“My boyfriend stole my computer so it was not on the floor—praise the Lord!” said Emily Thomey, who lives on the first floor.
Second-floor resident Lara Jones said her room was submerged under about one and a half inches of water. She barely saved her iPod, she said.
In 2002, Keohane Quad flooded in a similar incident, and Randolph Dormitory did the year before. At the time, residents said the University did not compensate them for damages.
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