After a failed bus duct and about 45 hours of electrical problems at North Carrick Hall, power was expected to be restored at midnight Thursday and residents be allowed to return at that time.
Students affected were given an alternative housing option for the second night in a row.
Power returning to the building was welcome news after many students spent the night in whatever space they could find Wednesday evening, and presumably again Thursday.
“I stayed in an apartment with one of my roommates’ friends last night,” Ryan McDaniel, a freshmen with business interest, said. “When I am allowed in my dorm, I don’t have electricity to charge my Mac or my phone for that matter. It’s completely dark. We had to move our interest group meeting from Carrick last night, which caused some problems in our attendance.”
The residents were informed via an e-mail sent from the Department of University Housing Wednesday shortly after 7:00 p.m. telling them the dorm would close at 8:30 p.m. and that those who could not make other sleeping arrangements could meet in the lobby to receive a temporary housing assignment.
“The time that we were given to get all of our stuff out for the next day was … hardly enough time for me to get across campus to gather my belongings,” McDaniel said.
Problems started in the building around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday morning when a fire alarm sounded, keeping the residents out of the dorm until 5:00 a.m.
The power remained off for most of the day Wednesday, leading to the decision to close the dorm for the night.
“Apparently very few people took advantage of being placed in another dorm room and just stayed with friends,” Karen Simsen, Director of UT’s Media Relations, said.
While the displaced students experienced some difficulties, most managed to cope well with the situation.
“I’m staying at a hotel,” Jackson Wetherington, freshmen in business, said. “It’s just inconvenient, because my classes start at eleven … (so) not really a problem.”
All of the suites in North Carrick have functioning showers, and the emergency lighting remains intact. The power grid, however, has entirely shut down access to electricity in the male dorm, and 88 rooms in South Carrick have been affected as well.
“Facility Services has come up with a workaround that we’re going to be able to use – basically a whole new part needs to be ordered – but we’re going to be able to get power back on and hopefully everything will be fine,” Simsen said. “We have a really old infrastructure.”
