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UPDATE: Coyote Village residents to return home Thursday morning

Volante Staff0

Jan. 23, UPDATE: Residents of Coyote Village will only have to be away from home one more night.

Coyote Village is scheduled to reopen Thursday at 7:30 a.m., according to an automated email sent out by the university Wednesday afternoon.

Testing will be performed tonight to evaluate the quality of essential services. However, once moved back in, residents are warned not to use water or toilets until the use of plumbing is approved. Electricity will be functional at the time of reopening.

The university will also be providing garbage bags for residents to dispose of any perishable items inside of rooms. University officials are working with insurance companies to provide compensation for lost food and beverage.

The shuttle providing transportation for students to and from the Muenster University Center and Vermillion hotels will continue until 11 p.m. tonight, and 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday.

In addition, a “Welcome Home Celebration” will be held for Coyote Village residents in the east lobby of the building at 9:30 p.m. Thursday.

Jan. 23, UPDATE: Coyote Village students will be displaced for a third night, due to the dorm’s uncertain living conditions, said Kimberly Grieve, Dean of Students, in an email sent out Wednesday morning around 10:45 a.m.

According to the email, “[s]ignificant progress is being made in the restoration of essential services in Coyote Village.”

The university is providing the displaced students with optional housing at area hotels, as well as a shuttle service to transport students to and from the hotels and campus.

Coyote Village students are allowed to access their dorms until 5 p.m. today.

An update email will be sent out later this afternoon. Check back later for an update.
Jan. 22, 2:23 p.m. UPDATE:
Residents of Coyote Village will be displaced an additional night after the residence hall was evacuated Monday night due to a break in a water pipe between the first and second floor.
Director of Marketing and University Relations Tena Haraldson said Coyote Village will be closed an additional night in order for workers to make any necessary fixes to the buildings electrical and water systems.
“Workers will be working tonight to replace the parts needed to amend the break in the pipes,” Heraldson said. “However, the electricity and heating are still out so if students need to enter their rooms and get an necessary items they will be able to do so until 5:30 p.m.”
Heraldson said that rooms would be available at the Holiday Inn, Best Western and Super 8 for any students in need of stay.
“The university hoped to not need rooms for Tuesday night,” Heraldson said. “But, the circumstances call for Coyote Village to be closed down another night.”
Around 160 of the 485 Coyote Village residents found rooms at local hotels Monday night, a number that is expected to rise Tuesday night as students return from the three-day weekend.
As for the damages to Coyote Village, Heraldson said faculty and staff were able to vacuum and mop up the majority of the water accumulated on the first floor before extensive damage was done.
The university hopes to have the issue resolved by Wednesday, and to have residents return to their rooms within the next 24 hours.
A shuttle will be circulating between the Holiday Inn, Coyote Village and MUC until 5 p.m., and will continue between the MUC and Holiday in until 11 p.m. to service any students in need to transportation.
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A water pipe break displaced hundreds of Coyote Village occupants Monday night on the University of South Dakota campus.

At approximately 10 p.m., a pipe located between the first and second floors burst, affecting the building’s electrical system and causing about an inch of water to flood the first floor, said Lt. Dallas Schnack of the University Police Department.

The break also caused a loss of pressure in the Village’s sprinkler system, triggering the fire alarm. Schnack said there was no fire, but because of the presence of water near the building’s electrical system, all occupants were evacuated and the building was shutdown.

USD officials are securing rooms for over 100 displaced students in Vermillion’s Holiday Inn and Super 8. Students were split by gender and placed four to a room.

USD students are not allowed back into their rooms until further notice, unless they need to collect necessary items like medicine, said Dean of Students Kim Grieve as she addressed students in the Muenster University Center’s Ballroom.

Grieve did not know the number of people evacuated at this given time, but she said Coyote Village houses 485 students.

Grieve also told students in the ballroom that all faculty would be informed of the incident. Grieve later clarified her statement and said she would not issue excused absences, but that she had contacted faculty and she was sure faculty would be understanding to the students’ situations.

Residential staff from around campus were called to assist USD officials by sweeping water in the Village’s lobby and corralling students to the MUC.

The amount of damage is unknown, said Schnack, but he said from the amount of water on the first floor that flooding in the rooms is a likely possibility.

 

Student Reaction

 

Dressed in pajamas and swaddled in blankets, displaced Coyote Village residents made do as they were shuttled to nearby hotels to stay the night.

In the lobby of Vermillion’s Holiday Inn, some students worried about their lack of an ID card, as others became anxious about the consequences the night would have on their athletic commitments.

“We don’t have anything except the clothes on our back,” said Sophomore Samantha Harvey, a USD soccer player and Village resident. “They wouldn’t let us take anyhing. I can’t go to soccer practice tomorrow without my stuff.”

Associate Dean of Students Phil Covington scrambled to check-in students to rooms.

“We don’t know at this point how long it will be (until students can return),” Covington said.

Sophomore Lauren Bennett said ‘there was a lot of water, all the way from the laundry room to the main lobby’ as she recalled exiting Coyote Village.

USD students also took to Twitter to document their reaction to the pipe break and subsequent evacuation.

Student Kayla Johnson tweeted “This is ridiculous all we have are the clothes on our back!”

According to Grieve, students will be notified by email when they are able to return to their rooms.

Check back later today for more updates on student reactions and estimated damage caused by flooding.

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