Just two days before the spring semester would begin, Ohio State sophomore Evan Garner was jolted awake at 5 a.m. by sounds of the fire alarm blaring through his dorm room.
Assuming it was a standard drill, he changed into the first set of clothes he could find and filed in alongside hundreds of other students making their way out of the building.
It wasn’t until he had traveled the three floors down to the lobby, where he saw water pooling high enough to form a visible sheet on the carpet, that he realized this was no drill.
Taylor Tower, a residence hall on Ohio State’s north campus, flooded last weekend, forcing the relocation of over 700 students and staff for the spring semester. The 60-year old building experienced “a significant pipe failure” in the early morning hours of Jan. 10, leading to major flooding on several of the dormitory’s 12 floors, according to university spokesperson Dave Isaacs.
A few hours later, Garner and his roughly 760 neighbors were told to gather all the belongings they could from their rooms. Students who were just arriving to move in for the semester kept their bags packed, and those who hadn’t left for campus yet were encouraged to stay put. Everyone would need to find a new place to live.
“I’m lucky I have a house here in the Columbus area,” Garner said, “but I don’t know what some of these kids are doing.”
After assessing damage throughout the day on Jan. 10, it became clear to the university that Taylor Tower wouldn’t be “viable” housing for the coming semester due to the extent of damage and length of time needed to complete repairs, namely to the plumbing and elevator systems, Isaacs said in an email statement.
“Immediate response and mitigation efforts were initiated,” the email statement reads. “All Taylor Tower residents were contacted through multiple communication channels, and their emergency contacts received an email update of the situation.”
Garner, who was able to sign a three-month lease in between classes on the first day of the semester Jan. 12, said the timing of everything has been overwhelming.
“It being the start of the semester is very stressful, trying to find housing, because OSU has not given a bunch of information on what’s happening,” Garner said. “I still haven’t heard of their plan to move some students other than temporary housing and hotels.”
The university has given residents the option to either relocate to other available dorms on campus, or to cancel their spring semester housing contract for a full refund of housing and dining fees. All residents will receive a $400 credit on their university account, plus $75 on their BuckID, to help with “unexpected expenses” involved in relocating, according to the statement.
For those looking to move off-campus, Ohio State is offering an additional, one-time $1,000 payment, according to a Taylor Tower FAQ page posted by the university Jan. 10.
In the short-term, students are encouraged to commute from home or stay with friends or family off-campus if they can. The FAQ page states that students will be credited for nights they do not stay in university housing.
Ohio State has also secured hotel beds through Jan. 16 and advised students to be on the look for an email with hotel assignments, which the university plans to share as soon as possible. Regular shuttle service is available for students living in temporary accommodations.
Garner added that at least for now, the building remains open for residents who need to schedule a time to retrieve their belongings and get help moving out.
This news follows that of Lawrence Tower, another Ohio State residence hall that needed to be evacuated following an infestation of mold and mushrooms in the fall of 2024. Roughly 500 students living in Lawrence were cleared out by the university ahead of the spring 2025 semester, which was then thought to be the first time in recent years Ohio State had evacuated an entire dorm midway through the academic year.
Taylor Tower was one of three Ohio State residence halls slated for renovation as of last year. The university’s Board of Trustees approved a $10 million upgrade, including more dorm space, for Drackett, Jones and Taylor towers in May 2025.
The makeover process was to be phased out over several years, with final construction projected to end in 2030.
Garner said he feels luckier than most, having had the resources to secure alternative housing at the last minute. But after talking with some international students who also have to relocate, he realized others don’t quite share that luxury.
“I think a lot of them are really nervous about where they’re gonna go,” he said, “because they don’t have anywhere to go other than campus.”
Reporter Emma Wozniak can be reached at ewozniak@dispatch.com or @emma_wozniak_ on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: OSU dorm floods due to pipe failure, displacing hundreds of students
Reporting by Emma Wozniak, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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