WILMINGTON — Leakage from a water pipe forced the evacuation of a new UNCW residence hall Sunday night, resulting in the temporary displacement of around 400 students.
The building-wide fire alarm went off at Terrapin Hall around 11 p.m., said Austyn Plotnick, a sophomore who lives on the first floor of the dormitory.
Resident advisors corralled students outside the building while details about the source of the commotion were still scarce. Around midnight, according to Plotnick, students were directed into Loggerhead Hall to escape the cold. Some had gone to their cars by then, or to off-campus apartments and other dorms where entry would not be prevented.
It became clear that residents would not be able to re-enter Terrapin immediately, but still, they were told to not go to other dormitory rooms on campus to stay with friends, Plotnick said. That would violate UNCW’s visitation policy, which restricts guests in residence halls after midnight.
“So a lot of people went and slept with their friends off campus or slept in the apartment buildings where there aren’t receptionists there, because our residence coordinator told us we were not allowed to break visitation hours to stay with anybody,” Plotnick said. “At that point people were like, ‘OK. Do I get a hotel? Do I have a friend off campus?’ Some people went and slept in the P.O.D. Market, like underneath Pelican. Some people were, like, in their cars.”
A university spokesperson said the water leak was due to a failed pipe coupling. The spokesperson added that the visitation policy — rolled out amid the pandemic to curb coronavirus spread — was kept in place initially after the leakage, when it seemed the leak could be quickly cleaned up. “Once they realized it was a more complex problem that would be at least overnight, we lifted that restriction,” according to the spokesperson.
Terrapin Hall opened last fall. Alongside Loggerhead Hall, they are the newest additions to the university’s student housing village. In the same area, Pelican and Sandpiper halls opened a year earlier, replacing the former University Apartments that were demolished after Hurricane Florence.
At 2:34 a.m., the university said in an emailed update it was “moving quickly to support affected students, temporarily relocating 400 to open residential spaces on campus or to rooms in area hotels.”
“This situation is incredibly unfortunate and disappointing, for our students and for us,” according to the update. “We realize the inconvenience it poses and are doing everything we can to resolve this, and to support our displaced students as best we can.”
After 2:30 a.m., the room reassignment process began, Plotnick said, lasting as late as 4:30 a.m. for some students.
“People were lining up in Loggerhead to get blankets, towels, sheets, pillows, the necessities, and a room reassignment,” she said. “And then they just put them in any vacancies on campus.”
Students had the chance to grab belongings from Terrapin before heading out, Plotnick said. “They had shuttles to take people from Terrapin to their new assignments, which was great because it was freezing cold.”
UNCW updated students again at 10:02 a.m. “As you know, late last night a water leak in Terrapin Residence Hall caused water damage to some rooms and impacted the life and operating systems of the building, temporarily taking it offline,” according to the announcement.
Faculty and staff were notified of the situation and told it might affect class attendance and other activities for the day. Starting at 1 p.m. Monday, students were able to head into Terrapin with an escort to grab belongings.
The situated began clearing up in the afternoon. Another update came at 2:21 p.m., alerting students that “Terrapin Hall has passed all tests and all life safety systems are now operational.” Shortly after 3:30, it was announced that most of the rooms did not sustain water damage, and the building “has passed safety assessments.” Students in almost all rooms could start returning to their dorms.
The rooms of around 16 students still require repairs that will take one or two weeks, according to the update at 3:34 p.m.
“The university understands the inconvenience caused by this situation, and we appreciate Terrapin residents’ patience and collaboration,” according to the university.
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