Flooding at Queen’s

We have had a major flood in the Old Building on Sunday morning as a result of a burst water pipe.  Fortunately there were very few occupants at the time as we had already cancelled a residential weekend and no one is hurt.  But, most of the bedrooms are affected by water damage, as well as kitchens, the library and the common room.  We have disaster management plans in place so there are two teams on site for the library and the general building to plan the next steps, but we already are certain that this is not going to be quickly put right.  We will be emailing those who are going to be directly affected in the next week but want to stress five points now:

1.           We have removed belongings from rooms in the Old Building and put them securely in the New Building.  We have taken careful records of what has come from each room and the damage that we can see.  We will be asking you to inspect this for yourself when you are next on campus and we will discuss insurance claims with you.  The primary issue in most cases is water damage to books. 

2. If you have a room in the Old Building and are planning to arrive today (Sunday), you should not do so.

3. If you are a weekly B&B student we are confident there will be a room for you this week in the New Building.

4. If you are a QCC year 1 or year 2 student we are confident that the residential weekend on 9-11 March will take place but many of you will be accommodated in the New Building with shared bathrooms. 

5. If you have library books that are due for return please renew them online.  We will let you know how we plan to deal with returns and borrowing as soon as we know more but we are anticipating being able to provide a service, even if it takes a bit longer.

If you are directly affected please wait for further emails from us to give you more information and only contact hospitality if you have an urgent concern. 

Please remember us in your prayers as we deal with this and for all who will be shouldering responsibilities for this in the days ahead.

David Hewlett

Principal