LYNN — Residents at Caggiano Plaza were met with soggy conditions on Christmas Day when a pipe on the fourth floor burst, leaking water into the units below.
The high rise located at 174 S Common St. is managed by Lynn Housing Authority (LHAND) and houses primarily seniors and people with disabilities. Director of Management and Operations Paul Gaudet said that one or more residents contacted the city to report flooding and damages. The City of Lynn then called the Housing Authority.
“Our maintenance and management staff responded and found a unit on the fourth floor which was vacant because the resident was taken to the hospital a couple of weeks ago, had a window open,” said Gaudet. “So apparently from the cold weather and the wind we had had for a while, a pipe must have frozen and then broken.”
Water leaked all the way down to the first floor, but because the first two floors contain only office spaces, only four residential units on the third and fourth floors were affected, according to Gaudet. His office was flooded.
In responding to the emergency, the fire department turned off the electricity, so residents were without heat for a couple of hours until the maintenance team arrived.
Gaudet explained, “Once our electrician checked the main circuit breakers and realized that it wasn’t an issue, we turned the heat back on immediately.”
The maintenance team responded by bringing in water vacuums, fans and dehumidifiers. “We also subsequently brought in a company called ServPro that deals with issues like this,” Gaudet said.
The Housing Authority is providing affected residents with an alternative place to live while units are being repaired. But, Gaudet said, most do not want to move.
“But at some point, we’re going to need to do some work in the units that will probably require them to [move], so we’re going to do our best to relocate all of the [affected] residents,” said Gaudet.
The units available for relocation are either in the same building or at other Housing Authority locations. Residents will have the opportunity to decide where they prefer to relocate, and they will not be required to move back to Caggiano Plaza unless they prefer to.
