A leak in the dormitory Village C West (VCW) flooded the building last week, damaging school and personal property and causing residents to seek housing with friends or in common areas.

The leak, which lasted from approximately 9 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Sept. 27, flooded student dorms and common areas in the building. The flood was caused by a chilled water leak from a broken air conditioning coil on the building’s sixth floor, according to an email from Residential Living to those impacted by the flood. 

The leak in the X-wing of VCW impacted the lower five floors and the building lobby. Residents reported water dripping or, in some cases, pouring from the ceilings of the lower five levels. 

Laura Montgomery (CAS ’26), a resident whose fifth-floor room flooded, said water leaked from her air conditioning unit, lights and bathroom fan, covering the floor with around two inches of water. 

Five days after the initial flooding, Montgomery said that she was still unable to stay in her room Oct. 1. 

“My room still looks the same as it did on Thursday. I still have no electricity,” Montgomery said. “I’m still sleeping on the floor of my friend’s room. I thought it would only be a day or two, and now it’s day five.” 

Montgomery said a Georgetown University Police Department Officer was present after a resident of VCW called and told her to take pictures of the damages, but no one from the university has contacted her yet about accepting the claims to her damaged property as of Oct. 3. 

A university spokesperson referred The Hoya to a Sept. 28 email sent to parents of VCW residents regarding the flood and cleanup procedures.

“The flood was caused by a failed chilled water line within a fan coil unit in a sixth-floor room. The failed water line was repaired and all water was turned on to the building by 11 PM last night,” the email read. “The impacted students were contacted directly to ensure alternative housing was arranged for last night and to take steps to document any potential damage to personal property.” 

“Our teams are working to remove any spaces infiltrated by water that cannot be dried properly, including mattresses and University-provided furniture,” the email added. 

Montgomery said she thinks Georgetown’s response was unclear regarding the next steps for her dorm. 

“I am very disappointed in Georgetown’s lack of updates or communications,” Montgomery said. “I don’t really know what’s going on because it doesn’t seem like anything has been changed in my room since Thursday. I’d really like to have my room back.” 

Yihan Deng (SFS ’26), a resident on the third floor of VCW, said their room had minor damages following the flood, which caused water to drip from the walls near the entrance and window. 

Deng said pieces of the wall were removed as a result of the flood, yet their biggest worry was mold despite the fans that maintenance placed in the room. 

“Those fans were running for a solid two days straight, except in the night,” Deng said. “So I’m crossing my fingers that the insides will not get gross.”

According to the university spokesperson’s Sept. 28 email, Residential Living contacted affected residents that day about property damages. 

“All rooms with identified damage were contacted today with follow-up email communication on how to report any damage to the Office of Risk Management,” the spokesperson said.

Deng said that maintenance and Residential Living did not explain what they planned to do in their room. 

“They didn’t really tell us that they would be coming in also with the fans,” Deng said. “I would have appreciated if they were like, ‘This is what’s going to happen with the repairs. Here’s what happened to your room.’”

In contrast, Eva Andersen (CAS ’26), a resident of the eighth floor, said she believed the response time of facilities was beneficial to those impacted by the flood. 

“I’m happy that the response has been really quick,” Andersen said. “Pretty much immediately, they had a lot of people working down there and equipment on there. So I’m happy that at least they’re addressing the problem very quickly.”

Yunji Yun (CAS ’26) said her VCW dorm did not flood, but her common room and lobby did. She said that she was concerned by the university’s response to the issue. 

“I walked into a common room that night, and someone was sleeping on the couch,” Yun said. 

Deng said they think Georgetown’s communication was poor, but the flooding concern could have been worse for their dorm. 

“All in all, things turned out okay. I don’t know if they did the best job telling us how they were going to fix things,” Deng said. “But it was sort of a help yourself thing.”