Gray Court students drenched in water and citations after first and second floors flood

Students at the University of Richmond were left in Gray Court with water-damaged rooms, parking tickets and alcohol citations after the first and second floor flooded on late Friday evening.

Around 60 students were impacted and relocated due to the water damage on Friday night, according to Sunni Brown, the director of media and public relations at UR. No injuries were reported. 

The flood was caused by a broken sprinkler head, according to an email sent out to guardians of students living in Gray. 

Gray’s common rooms were filled with student belongings as residents frantically tried to empty their rooms while water poured from their ceilings and into the halls. Students said that emergency personnel were “unhelpful,” citing students for alcohol violations and giving out parking tickets to those trying to relocate for the night.

Outside of Gray, a car was parked on the curb with a parking ticket given out at 10:45 p.m. At that time, flooding was still happening inside the building.

Students inside said that first responders did not help, with three students on the first floor claiming that some laughed at them while they tried to pile their belongings into the hallways. 

“They were not helpful at all,” said Mia Theermann, a sophomore student living on the first floor of Gray. “They stood there and watched.”

Only one parking ticket was issued for Richmond Fire equipment to arrive, according to the university. Officials have yet to comment on the alleged alcohol citations.

The UR Police Department did not comment on these claims on Friday night and early Saturday morning. 

On the first floor of Gray, rooms had caved-in ceilings with debris scattered across the waterlogged hallways. There was a distinct dank smell throughout the hall. 

“I drank [sewage],” said sophomore Arantza Pereira, whose ceiling tiles fell through from the water damage. “It’s in my hair.”

Inside Pereira’s room, the floors were covered in water with electrical cords lying around. Her bed was drenched and what items she was able to salvage had been dumped into the common room, like many others had done.  

Multiple students alleged that the flood was caused by a pipe burst by a student colliding with the ceiling while bouncing on a miniature indoor trampoline on the second floor. A video obtained by The Collegian shows water pouring out of a ceiling tile with a trampoline directly underneath it.

The water damage to the second floor was primarily on the ground. The water from the second floor leaked through to the first, causing ceiling tiles to collapse and flood the rooms below.

Resident assistants asked students if their rooms were okay, if they had a place to stay, and instructed them to take pictures to document damaged belongings.

“The most important thing is getting people out tonight,” one of the RAs told students on the first floor.

Students, like sophomore Carter House, had to find a place to stay for the night, as they awaited future instructions from the university. 

“We all have places to stay,” House said. “I think they’re working on it for people who don’t.”

Sophomore Whit Russell is a North Court resident hosting some of his friends whose dorms in Gray were damaged.

“The dorm they’ll fix. But it’s more about how, like about people’s phones, computers, watches, whatever.” Russell said. “The valuable things.”

As of 12:20 a.m., some students who did not have a place to stay were assigned to new rooms in Keller Hall, according to Russell.

Parents on the UR Parents Facebook page posted about Gray’s flooding on Friday night. One parent wrote that in the past “UR does and will reimburse.”

At around 12:50 a.m., the university sent an email to Gray students saying that contractors are on-site starting the “restoration process” of the building, according to Chief of Police Dave McCoy, and all impacted students have been assigned temporary housing.

In the message, students were asked to catalog damaged items. Gray residents can expect “detailed instructions” on how to report damage to personal items tomorrow, according to McCoy.

The university has been in contact with its insurer to figure out what damaged items may be covered, according to the email sent to parents. A third-party contractor will be providing laundry services to impacted students, mainly to clean bulkier personal items like mattress pads and sheets. 

Contact city and state editor Nick Mossman at nick.mossman@richmond.edu and executive editor Caitlin McCormack at caitlin.mccormack@richmond.edu.