Water damage in Larch Hall from heater coils that froze and broke open has caused some inconvenience for students living there.

The damage appears to be the result of two windows left open during winter break.

Smoke alarms set off by steam that escaped from the damaged coils alerted ISU Police to the situation. Damage occurred to carpet as well as possessions left on the ground before the water was shut off, said Ginny Arthur, associate director for residence life.

“A handful of folks were pretty distressed,” Arthur said.

“But the majority of people were very complimentary about the fact that we were calling them and letting them come back early to check things out.”

Seventy-two rooms of the 10-floor residence hall were affected by the leaking water, which was coming from heat coils on the first and fifth floors.

The breaks occurred during the night of Dec. 24 and early the following morning.

More than 20 on-call ISU employees helped clean up the mess on Christmas day.

“People literally left their Christmas dinner and guests,” Arthur said.

“The custodians are very dedicated to the students who live in the residence halls.”

Students were contacted by phone and e-mail to advise them of the situation. Students who came back early to assess damages were given the option of a two-day stay in the Memorial Union if they had no place to stay.

Adam Plummer, president of Larch Hall, said his first-floor room had about three inches of standing water while he was away, but nothing of exceptional value was damaged.

“I haven’t heard any horror stories of mass destruction since I’ve been back, other than people losing their carpet or random notebooks lying on the ground,” Plummer said.

Plummer said water ran over his TV, VCR and Xbox, but all devices were off and unplugged.

New carpet has been laid in the hallways of affected floors and is on the way for students whose rugs were damaged.

Arthur said the damages are estimated to be less than $100,000, which is the insurance deductible of the policy the university holds. Students have been asked to check with their own insurance providers to cover damages.

Thus far, no one has been held accountable for the windows that were left open.

“That is yet to be determined, and that process is in operation at this point,” Arthur said.

“We’re still talking about what happened and what needs to take place.”

The windows are believed to have been left open by students who stayed later than the Dec. 18 move-out date, Arthur said.

“All students were notified that their windows needed to be closed and locked and their heaters and fans needed to be set at a certain level,” Arthur said.

“They were notified of what would happen if these things didn’t happen.”