A recent game of catch in the Mayflower Residence Hall ended in the building’s evacuation as ankle-deep water partially flooded two floors.

Josh Nikolovski, a freshman living on Mayflower’s third floor, and a floormate were playing catch on Sept. 12 when Nikolovski threw the ball down the hallway, accidentally hitting and breaking off a sprinkler head on the ceiling.

Water began to gush out of the sprinkler and rush into rooms.

“It was like a fountain right away,” Nikolovski said.

The Iowa City Fire Department responded around 20 minutes later to stop the rushing water, but the damage had been done.

Water spread roughly six doors down on the A-B side of the building, in some places reaching ankle-high levels. It also damaged some of the second level. Water also affected the building’s fitness center, which is closed until further notice.

One third floor resident caught the drama on tape, posting it to YouTube.

Assistant Director of Residence Life Kate Fitzgerald said the university does not have an estimate of the damages yet. Officials are in the process of evaluating costs related to the incident.

“As of right now, risk management is working on the insurance and cost,” she said.

She is unsure if insurance will pay for all of the damages or if the student will have to pay some of the cost, she said. When a similar incident occurred in 2006, the student paid for part of the damages, but Fitzgerald said she could not remember the cost. In that case, the student broke the sprinkler system by hanging clothes from the sprinkler head.

Though rumors have circulated about how much Nikolovski will have to pay in damages and fines, university officials are still working to determine the extent of damage.

The incident caused the building’s fire alarms to go off, forcing students to wait outside during the initial cleanup for nearly two hours before they were allowed back into the dorms.

Freshman Trey Glover, who lives in the room directly under the third floor sprinkler, said he was at work during the incident.

But Glover and roommate Nate Henry were more lucky than many on the second floor.

“Some kids lost their computers, but only our beds and the tiles in the bathroom got wet,” Glover said. A wet tile collapsed into his shower, he said, and clogged the drain.

Emily Matesumura is one of the unlucky few who had electronics damaged.

“My laptop, printer, and iPod Touch were wrecked,” the freshman said, noting her suite roommates’ electronics were unscathed by the flood.

Mayflower coordinator Ben Black said students initially reported damaged items to resident assistants helping with the cleanup.

Students were told to contact their homeowners’ insurance to check if they are covered. If they aren’t, the damages should be reported to UI Risk Management and then to the state Board of Regents. The process can take many months to complete, Black said.