Juniper Court floods: Your stories

‘The water created massive puddles which spread to people’s rooms’

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After last week’s floods in Juniper Court, we spoke to some of the people effected and they told us their stories.

The first person we spoke to was Elizabeth, a fresher studying Journalism, said: “On the 5th floor, where I am, the water initially started pouring heavier than rain, it was coming from the lights in our hallway.

“There are cracks in one girl’s ceiling and the kitchen’s ceiling. The water created massive puddles which spread to several people’s bathrooms and rooms. There was water seeping through the kitchen wall.”

“The 6th floor got it a lot worse. The uni maintenance team were testing the sprinklers, the pipe burst and the water leaked through the ceilings, floor to floor.

“The 3rd and 4th floors were put into the campus hotel. 5th and 6th were given spare rooms in halls, rooms that were a considerable downgrade when taking into account how much we pay for rent for the new buildings.

“My flatmate’s clothes were soaked and smelly and they offered to give her the money for cleaning them, however they were only willing to pay for one load yet it was three loads worth of clothes. Accommodation Services were helpful in that they gave us food vouchers for dinner, breakfast and lunch.”

We also spoke to Jonny who is a first year Sport and Business Studies student, who said: “The 5th floor wasn’t as bad as the 6th, where the pipe that burst was. It started off slowly, but picked up over time, dampening rooms and the roofs.

“We were out for one night and were offered accommodation in other halls. There was not much damage to electrical equipment, but clothes on the floor were soaked and the uni offered to give one free wash and dry, but my flat mate had loads of clothes and couldn’t get it all in one wash. 

“There isn’t too much lasting damage to the building except a few roofs have wee holes in them as they were apparently going to fall through with the weight of the water.”

Holy shit indeed

We also spoke to Stewart, a Fourth Year studying Criminology and Sociology, who explained, “It was a burst pipe above our flat which burst when they tested the sprinklers, so it was pouring out the lights in the hall.

“It went a little bit under our doors, but nobody’s stuff was damaged, from this flat anyway. We were put into alternative accommodation, but it was just for one night so it didn’t bother me to be honest.

“Accommodation Services were very good, they got loads of people straight onto the problem and it was pretty amazing that we were back in the next day to be honest, and you would barely notice that it actually happened to be honest.”

When we contacted Accommodation Services they said, “Following routine work on Juniper Court’s fire alarm and sprinkler system, we became aware of a fault which caused restricted water damage.

“We moved students to temporary, overnight accommodation on campus and provided meal vouchers.

“Work was carried out overnight and all residents were able to return the following day. Staff visited residents and offered to launder any clothes which had been lying out in rooms and had got wet.”