Kamrin Baker
Digital Editor
Tuesday afternoon, UNO Facilities staff members were conducting routine maintenance on a fire hydrant when a malfunction resulted in flooding in the first floor of Building B in Scott Village, according to University Communications.
Building B resident assistant Rachel VanRobays said that the first floor of Building B was the only floor of the three-story building that faced water damage, but the power was turned off for the entire building during the evacuation process.
VanRobays lives on the first floor and was off campus when she got word from her roommate that their suite had started to flood.
“She [my roommate] called the office, then me, and told me what happened,” VanRobays said. “By the time I got here, all the RAs and a bunch of other people were here trying to clear stuff out. It [the water] was ankle-deep all throughout the first floor.”
VanRobays said that many first-floor residents were also off campus, so maintenance crews and res-life staff members worked to salvage their belongings. She received text messages from residents who were concerned about the flood, and as soon as residents on the top two floors realized they weren’t in danger, they came to help, as well, VanRobays said.
According to University Communications, all affected residents will be able to stay in other available housing units on Scott Campus while water damage is assessed and addressed.
VanRobays said all first floor inhabitants need to be out of their Building B rooms for the next week, while the remaining residents have the option of receiving a temporary room until the power is turned back on.
“I feel like it was a little more stressful being the RA because I was concerned about all of them [the residents] and then I remembered I had all my stuff to take care of, too,” VanRobays said. “All of the people there were so amazing and so helpful, so that really took some stress away.”
