I live in a five story building. About 1 a.m. earlier today, I was treated to a loud beating upon my door, and a voice yelling that I had to get up because we had to evacuate the building.
What? Was my suitemate for real? I mean, there weren't any sirens going off or anything. Did she just think it would be funny to wake me from a deep sleep and tell me to get the heck out of dodge? 'Cause if she thinks that waking me up would be funny, she's got another thing coming.
I jump out of bed and fling open the door.
"You have to get up. The building is flooding. We have to go now!"
So, probably as confused as I have ever been in my life, I shove my feet into some flip-flops and wrap my jacket around me. I grab my purse and my laptop. I follow my suitemate out of our suite.
And that's when I hear it. The sound of rushing water... rushing somewhere. There's someone beating on the other side of the exit door to the secret stairs. I open the door to find a few guys trying to escape the flood.
We follow the guys to the next set of stairs. The sound of water is much louder by these stairs than by the first set. Some of the guys tear down the stairs. And they quickly come back up.
"Find another way out. Unless you're wanting to swim, try the other stairs."
Where are we? On the damn Titanic?
So, we pass by the elevators and head to the next (and final) set of stairs. We rush down them. Thankfully, they have not filled with water. We exit the building. And we have no idea what to do. We can't go back in. The bottom two floors are full of water. The elevators have turned into a waterfall! Water is streaming down the stairs, through the ceiling, and is making gigantic puddles on the first floor of my residence hall.
I walk to my truck and decide I'm going to Nat's house. I am freaking out because my home is filling up with water and I remember that I didn't take Bradley's laptop with me! How stupid of me! I should have thought to grab her laptop before I made my escape.
Anyway. I venture back to my flooded building later today to see what the damage is. The first and second floors are still drying out. The drying out process will probably take a few days. This place reeks of wet dog. The elevators are out of commission until further notice. That's fine, because I rarely take the elevators. But I do feel bad for those that live on the fifth floor and will be taking the stairs indefinitely. How long does it take two elevator shafts to dry out after being waterfalls? I imagine all the circuitry will have to be replaced. Or not. I don't know.
As it turns out, the guys of the second floor were indulging themselves in a little game of midnight football. One of the darling yahoos threw the ball and broke off a sprinkler head. Since they won't rat each other out, all the kids of the second floor are being held responsible for the time being. Or so I've been told.
I really wish that their parents had taught them that it is not polite to play football in doors.
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