Almost 100 students relocated after Chapman Grand flooding

After a Jan. 11 hot water main break at Chapman Grand, some residents are still displaced. Furniture and other appliances are stored in a large fenced-in storage area in the Chapman Grand parking structure. Photo by Cassidy Keola

Sophomore health science major Katie Cha was hanging out with a friend in her Chapman Grand apartment Jan. 11 when loud screeching filled the room.

“All of a sudden, the fire alarms went off and we rushed out, (thinking) it was some kind of drill,” Cha said.
That evening brought displacement and damage to students living at the $150 million Anaheim apartment complex that Chapman purchased in fall 2017. Students whose living spaces were affected were relocated to other available Chapman Grand apartments and nearby Chapman housing, including Panther Village.

Students made their way out of the apartment building, and as residents evacuated their rooms, they quickly realized it was much more than that, Cha said. Water had started to pool in the hallways and was seeping into the apartments, she said.

“(Our friends) saw water building up. We knew something was actually wrong,” Cha said.

Cha said that Public Safety instructed students to remain outside of the building for several hours without much explanation. Little did the students who lived there know, 61 rooms would soon be evacuated.

On the evening of Jan. 11, Dean of Students Jerry Price emailed students saying that a hot water main had broken above the fourth floor of the complex.

The main break, the email said, created major flooding down through the first floor and set off a building-wide fire alarm.

“Rooms deemed safe and unaffected will be accessible effective in the next hour, once staff have completed a full assessment,” Price wrote.

But more than a month later, some students say they are still displaced. While Chapman has provided temporary housing in Panther Village and in unaffected Chapman Grand apartments, said Jamie Ceman, vice president of strategic marketing and communications, some students remain upset.

“I would’ve rather (the office of Residence Life) say, ‘You need to move out all your things. You realistically won’t be able to move back for the rest of the semester’,” Cha said.

A statement provided to The Panther from Ceman provided details of the flooding’s damage and says that impacted students were relocated. Dave Sundby, director of Residence Life, declined to comment further on the incident.

Cha’s apartment was one of the least affected, she said, and she and her roommates still don’t know when they’ll be able to move in. Cha doesn’t think it’ll happen within the semester.

“They reserved parking spots for the construction workers from January to May,” Cha said.

In addition to the reserved spots, there is a temporary unit in the parking lot holding damaged furniture.

“It takes up a whole side of the parking lot, making parking harder,” she said.

Chapman’s Residence Life put a process in place to “consider reimbursement of damage to personal property,” according to a university statement provided to The Panther.

Some weren’t prepared for the extent of the damage.

“My roommates and I got an email saying, ‘You just need to take a few days’ worth of living’,” said Cha. “Fast-forward to two weeks later, we’re still displaced, and I’d been wearing the same two pairs of pants for two weeks.” Cha was later allowed back into her apartment to retrieve her clothing.

“Chapman Residence Life and the construction workers at Chapman Grand were really accommodating about letting us back into the apartment when we needed, but it was just kind of a hassle,” she said. “The temporary apartment I was given in Panther Village was really bad. It smelled like smoke and there were dead spiders and cobwebs everywhere.”

While Chapman offered to supply a cleaning crew to clean her Panther Village apartment, Cha is staying in her former roommate’s temporary Chapman Grand apartment until construction is completed.