Damage in Taylor Tower after a major pipe failed Saturday morning. Credit: Courtesy of Megan Goehring
Panic, anxiety and the inability to focus during their first days of classes are among the reactions of students adjusting to newly-found homes or still searching for a new place to live at Ohio State after a pipe burst and flooded Taylor Tower on Saturday.
Megan Goehring, a first-year in economics and Spanish, said she didn’t think her room would be affected because she lived on the top floor.
“I saw a photo right outside my door where the pipe burst, and I’m like, ‘Oh, I can tell that it’s my door,’” Goehring said.
Grace Fortier, a first-year in operations management, was at a Texas Roadhouse when she learned she would no longer live in Taylor. In addition, her parents were in Florida, which didn’t help with the unexpected situation, she said.
“At first, I just felt like, ‘Okay, what do I do? How can we fix this?’” Fortier said. “I just started panicking, very overwhelmed with everything.”
Ohio State officials declared Taylor could no longer be occupied Saturday after a significant pipe failure caused the flooding. Before the extent of the damage was confirmed, students who hadn’t arrived on campus were asked to delay their move-in. Those who already arrived were sent to nearby dorms.
By 5 p.m. that day, two days before the start of the spring semester, Ohio State sent an email telling students they would have to move out of the tower due to elevator and plumbing system damage.
The university gave students the option to remain on campus in the available dorms — the majority in Morrill and Lincoln Towers and on south campus, the university said in the email — or find their own place to live off campus.
For compensation, each resident received a $400 stipend to their university account and $75 to their BuckID, per prior Lantern reporting. For those moving off campus, an additional $1,000 was given for relocation expenses and the university refunded their spring housing and dining fee, the university said in the email.
Fortier said the $1,000 the university is providing will help cover the extra fees when quickly finding a place.
Goehring said that although it is frustrating, she understands that the university is doing the best it can with such an unexpected situation.
Ohio State said that students able to commute from home or stay with friends will be credited for the nights they do not stay in campus housing, the email said. If that wasn’t possible, the university provided hotels until Friday and daily shuttles to campus.
The Student Advocacy Center also sent a memo to students to share with instructors to explain the circumstances, the email said.
Students also coordinated with the tower’s facilities team to plan when to gather their stuff from the tower, the email said.
Fortier and Hannah Fox, a first-year in atmospheric sciences, were roommates on the 10th floor in Taylor but had to find different living situations for the remainder of the year.
At first, they said they didn’t think the leak was a big deal.
“I didn’t think much of it, because I feel like pipes leak sometimes. We’ll wait a day. We’ll come back. It’ll be fine,” Fox said.
Fox said their room probably had ankle deep water and ceiling tiles fell on top of one of their other roommate’s beds. Although they had built-in dressers and didn’t have much stuff on their floor, their rugs were ruined and other items were soaked with dirty water.
Goehring said she was very shocked and confused because she didn’t know what she was going to do despite planning on moving in that day.
Goehring said that although her room was in front of the pipe burst, her room didn’t have as significant damage as lower floors because water didn’t go through the ceiling. Still, she said her items were ruined if they were on the floor and not in a secure box.
“I was more grateful that I could tell not a ton of my stuff was ruined,” Goehring said. “I couldn’t remember exactly what I left in my dorm, so it was nice knowing I didn’t have much stuff in there to get ruined.”
Goehring said her floors were covered in brown water and cake-like mud.
While trying to figure out where to live, Fox, Fortier and Goehring were beginning their second semester of college but learning wasn’t a priority. Fortier said when she is in class, she wasn’t focused on the lecture, but thinking about where she was going to live.
“Every single class and lecture I’ve been to, I’ve basically been texting my mom, texting our group chat updates on places to live,” Fortier said.
Goehring said she couldn’t focus on classes while figuring out where she was going to stay. Although she lived 20 minutes from campus, she would have to pay for parking. She opted to stay in the hotels provided by the university while waiting for where she will live on campus.
In addition to classes, Goehring said preparing for spring rush, which begins this weekend, while moving, adds to the stress.
Although they have decided on their living situations — Fox is going to remain on campus and Fortier is going to live at Statehouse Highline on 9th Avenue with another roommate — they are still waiting to move into their respective housing and staying in Fox’s sister’s basement.
Fortier decided to live off campus because she didn’t want to live with random students again.
“It’s a brand new chapter, and I finally had gotten comfortable with the people I was with, and getting used to somewhat of a routine,” Fortier said. “When that all got messed up, I wanted to try and keep anything as normal as I could.”
At the time of publication, Fox and Goehring are still waiting to hear back from the university on where they are going to live for the rest of the semester.
