Extensive flooding in a West Campus apartment left dozens of residents displaced throughout the beginning of the semester.
While repairing the 18th-floor pool of Moontower, a general contractor left a water source running on Dec. 31, flooding 39 apartments across 18 floors, according to Landmark Properties. Landmark Properties is the company that owns Moontower Apartments and other buildings in West Campus.
“I wake up, (and) I hear water flooding in,” said psychology senior Courtney Roark, a Moontower resident. “I’m praying I’m just hallucinating or something. I step on the ground, and my foot hits water.”
As a result of the water damage to dozens of units, multiple students were relocated to the Moxy hotel on Guadalupe Street while their units underwent repair, according to an email from the property sent on Jan. 21.
“The safety and well-being of our residents remain our top priority,” Landmark Properties and Moontower said in an email statement. “We appreciate everyone’s patience as we complete the remediation process.”
Some residents from floors affected by the flood said they were still living at Moxy nearly halfway through the semester, and said they are just now returning to their routines after the disruption. Residents were not approved to move back in until the beginning of February, according to email communication with Moontower.
“They kept telling us things would be okay when they weren’t okay,” Roark said. “It was really hard to work with everyone. Every day, I was coming in and asking questions because the dates (kept) changing.”
The flooding also affected roommates psychology sophomore Jack Dahan and computer science senior Pranav Pudu. Both residents said they experienced frustration living at the Moxy without a refrigerator or microwave amid construction in their unit.
“Coming back, I actually already feel a lot better, reintegrating myself,” Dahan said. “But we were there for almost three weeks … sometimes, I just felt really alone.”
While the flood occurred between Dec. 31 and Jan. 1, resident Hope Elliot, a radio-television -film junior, was not approved to relocate to a hotel until Jan. 21, according to an email from the property. Elliott said she had fans and humidifiers running constantly in her apartment to prevent mold growth. Without access to a functioning kitchen while staying at the Moxy, Elliot said she relied on meals from restaurants and frozen dinners.
“We were really forced to eat out (in) all the surrounding areas,” Elliott said. “I can’t have Cabo Bob’s for a while because I just had it so much.”
After moving into the hotel, the Moontower gave residents a $75 daily food stipend, according to a Jan. 21 email from Moontower to tenants affected.
According to city records obtained by the Texan, there have been six known reports of water-related damage at the property since it opened in 2021.