By
Shana Heiser
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Student unsuccessfully tries to remedy problem with roll of toilet paper
Only the hallway's stench and high-powered fans remain from Kaibab-Huachuca Residence Hall's flooded second floor - water had covered the bathroom and dorm rooms late Tuesday night.
A broken toilet leaked water after a student attempted to stop a much smaller leak with a roll of toilet paper, said Erik Olson, student building mechanic.
"It made it worse," he said. "It probably flooded about six good dorm rooms and the hallways, too. The lounge got flooded."
The university did not offer accommodations for the residents who were affected, so they either endured the conditions or stayed with someone else.
"There was water everywhere, so I went to my sister's," said Sadie Reuben, undeclared freshman. "It was funny at the time because we didn't expect it to be flooding in our room."
Water in the all-girls hallway left some students unable to exit their room.
"I was trapped in here for a couple hours while the hallway was flooded," said Suzy Rothenberg, undeclared freshman. "Our room is a complete mess."
The toilet began leaking around 10 p.m., and the flooding was stopped by 11:45 p.m., Rothenberg said. However, the vacuuming didn't start until about 1 a.m.
"Nobody had access to turn the water off," Rothenberg said.
With the water draining just as fast as it was coming out, water near the bathroom was ankle deep, said Laura Ruby, undeclared freshman.
Reactions were mixed, from "students who were a little upset," according to Olson, to "overly dramatic girls," said Ruby.
"I just thought it was stupid that it got so out of control," she said.
University custodians and maintenance have been working since early Wednesday morning to clean up the mess.
"There are one to two rooms that still are maybe drying," Olson said. "It's been cleaned out, and it's 90 percent dry. We're providing fans and dryers."
The smell is dissipating, but Rothenberg said "it just stinks in the hallway."
