Editor’s note: This piece will be updated as soon as more information becomes available.

DeKALB – Some Patterson Hall East first floor students are temporarily displaced to the Holmes Student Center Hotel due to a flood.

At 1:10 a.m. Thursday, a fire alarm sounded, forcing Patterson Hall East and Central students outside. 

Rania Arain, a sophomore psychology major, said she was doing homework when she heard an explosion sound. 

“I heard water rushing out of my roommates rooms, and they were yelling and then I saw like black water coming out from under the door and then the alarms went off,” Arain said.

Room 114 and Room 104 residents were displaced due to the damages. Room 114 had part of the ceiling fall down.

Matthew Vanderwater, a freshman industrial and systems engineering major, said when the fire alarm went off he quickly put on his shoes and managed to be the second person outside.

“A cop did run past saying ‘hey is there any smoke or any fire?’“ Vanderwater said.

Cris Salido, a sophomore finance major, said when he realized there was water, he started unplugging his Xbox and other electronics in hopes to save them. 

“And I just heard, like, ‘shooooo’ and I thought, like, gas was in there. I was like, oh crap, like, we’re gonna explode or something,” Salido said. “And then I see the, like, all the water coming towards my room.”

Around 1:20 a.m. students were allowed into Patterson’s Community Center after first responders concluded there was no fire. Soon after, they allowed all students except Patterson East even side residents to go back to their rooms.

Vanderwater said he talked to his friends in Room 114 while they were waiting in the Community Center.

“Some of my friends were crying because they had like a $3,000 Violin in there and like a bunch of electronics,” Vanderwater said.

Students waited around in the Community Center, one by one being cleared to go to their rooms either for the night or to get their stuff to go to the HSC Hotel.

“First they called 108, then 110 and then after a while they said ‘hey guys, Room 114 get your stuff, we’re gonna get you to Holmes Student Center.’ Now here we are, Room 104, the holdouts,” Vanderwater said.

Residents were told to pack for about two days, but there is no timestamp for when their rooms will be ready for them to move back in.

Students were shuttled to the HSC Hotel by housing workers and the Huskie Buses starting at 3:15 a.m. and continued on until past 4 a.m.