Storm causes roof damage, student evacuations at Will Rice

By Anna Ta     1/20/17 10:28am

Students were forced to evacuate parts of Will Rice College’s old dormitory early Wednesday morning after parts of the fourth floor ceiling fell in and leakage occurred throughout the building during a heavy rainstorm. Housing and Dining cleared students to return to their rooms and expects repairs to be finished by the end of the week.

“We believe this occurred due to a clogged drain outside on the deck of the fifth floor,” H&D Senior Business Director David McDonald said. “Once this was cleared, water was draining normally.”

Students were evacuated around 7 a.m., but leaking had begun by 5:30 a.m., according to Will Rice freshman Jake Lesher, who lives on the fourth floor.

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“I woke up to the sound of what I thought was rain, but after a moment, I realized it was coming from inside the room and the roof was leaking,” Lesher said. “I got out of bed, went to put a trash can under the leak, and started cleaning it up with a towel when chunks of drywall started falling from the ceiling. Mud and dirt covered everything — the chair, the lamp, my books.”

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