Claire:
Unfortunately, living in Hoboken comes with a few downsides. It’s a great city with thriving businesses and amazing opportunities, but the utilities leave something to be desired. For those new to Stevens, I want you to know that last week’s water crisis, while severe, was not unique. Every year or so, Hoboken faces some kind of water-related problem usually resulting in a boil water order and a small campus emergency. Usually, boil water orders happen after a big storm that causes flooding so you’ll always have some kind of advanced warning. I would recommend that whenever we get a flood warning, fill up a bucket for flushing the toilet and a jug of drinking water. While Stevens will always provide portable toilets and water bottles, preparing yourself can make your experience just a little bit easier.
This is especially important to think about as we go into spring and rainstorms pick up. The recent damage to our pipes, combined with coming floods means that we should all be prepared for a boil water order. I would also recommend being careful with the water after a flood even when a boil water order is not in place. Historically, the city has been a little slow to identify problems with the water system. So, if your tap water is discolored or tastes funny, it’s better to be careful and have a little bit of safe water stored.
Ethan:
I feel like the answer you are looking for is in the question. So rather than helping you out for the future, I am going to use this as an opportunity to let you use context clues to learn. I am going to take the rest of my time to share what I did during the most recent water main break and boil water advisory. To start off my journey, I spent my Monday evening irritated with my lack of access to water use on campus and proceeded to head home for a long weekend when the school advised that we evacuate on Tuesday. I then spent the rest of my week attending online classes and relaxing at home due to all on-campus activities being canceled. By the time water returned to normal, the week was basically over so I spent the weekend trying to catch up on some much-needed rest. I watched Pitch Perfect during my time at home, and let me say boy can those Treblemakers sing. I 100% think they were robbed of the win at the ICCA Finals.
So all in all, I would consider my time at home well-spent and much-needed. Back to your struggle, I’m sure you had a blast being unable to use water for the majority of the week but I just want to remind you that you should read what the city is telling you to do in times like this. I do not think my advice was needed for this one but you’re welcome anyway.
