When it rains, it pours. And when Tropical Storm Hanna finally hit the District of Columbia late into the night last Friday, Georgetown, along with the rest of the District, got drenched. Hanna’s seven inches of rain cut off roads, broadened the muddy Potomac, and flooded the apartments and townhouses of unlucky Georgetown students. According to University Spokesperson Julie Green-Bataille, Facilities prepared for the storm as it slowly made its way up the coast toward the Hilltop, gathering sandbags, pumps, wet vacuum, plastic sheeting, and tarps, and putting extra staff on duty on Saturday. Unfortunately, their preparations proved no match for Hanna, leaving many students to fend for themselves as they waited for ultimately unsatisfactory assistance. The next time it’s faced with a storm of Hanna’s magnitude—a rare occurrence, but a dangerous once nonetheless—Georgetown should do more to protect itself and its students from the fallout.
Not all of the measures taken by Georgetown to ready itself for the storm were for naught. Some students, like Kaitlin Donohue (COL ‘10), received a swift response from Facilities. Within ten minutes of Donohue’s call to report the inch of water on the kitchen floor of her N Street University townhouse, workers arrived with a wet vacuum to remove the water.
However, the response Scott Chessare (COL ’10) received from Facilities—too little, too late—seems to be have been a more common experience among Georgetown students. Chessare and his roommates listened to water flow through his wall into his bedroom and the kitchen of his Village A apartment for hours before Facilities arrived—armed only with towels.
This isn’t just a question of temporary inconvenience for a couple of students. Water can do long term damage to walls and ceilings, leading to mold infestations and ultimately undermining the stability of buildings. Especially in Village A, which was renovated this past summer, Facilities should be more proactive in preventing long-term damage to Georgetown’s dorms.
Some students are still waiting for Facilities to repair the damages done by Hanna. The University should assist these students as soon as possible and learn their lesson from this storm so that when the next one arrives—in a year, in five—they’ll be ready.
