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The Axis at Howard Residents Recall Flooding Accident

A burst sprinkler flooded students’ units on The Axis at Howard’s ninth and fifth floors. Viral TikTok footage captured the accident.

The Axis at Howard, Starbucks and the Howard University Barnes & Noble on Georgia Avenue. (Keith Golden Jr/The Hilltop)

Ebony Williams, a sophomore architecture major from Dallas, Texas, was preparing for her virtual class on Wednesday morning while eating breakfast when she was interrupted by a sound she described as a “waterfall” outside her door.

On Jan. 22, a sprinkler burst in The Axis at Howard residential apartments on the ninth floor affecting three to five apartment units. The Axis management team described this as a “water intrusion incident” in an email to residents.

“We have begun the remediation process and evaluation of the units to determine if any personal items will need to be removed in the event they are in the path of any water,” the email read. 

This incident occurred days after the management warned students about falling temperatures due to a polar vortex. Management advised residents to take precautions including allowing faucets to drip, leaving cabinet doors open and setting the thermostats to a minimum of 68 degrees. 

Winter Storm Blair was the first coast-to-coast snowstorm of 2025 and landed in the D.C. area on Jan. 6. According to The Weather Channel, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport had officially tallied up 7.2 inches.

When the fire alarm began to ring, Williams realized the severity of the situation and ran down the stairs to find help. She found students gathered in the lobby and even when the alarm stopped, she was instructed to not go back to her room.

“I was panicking in my head. My heart dropped. I was like, ‘No, my stuff, all my possessions, my memories,’ like I was lowkey overreacting. But, I don’t know, there was so much going on,” Williams said.

After hanging out in her friend’s room for about 20 minutes, Williams was told to go back to her room and check her belongings. 

“It was a mess, there was water everywhere,” she said. “There were big industrial fans on the floor, and a couple of custodians cleaning up. None of my stuff was damaged or anything, just a little water came.”  

On the other end of the hall Shy’anne Cook, a sophomore broadcast journalism major from Columbus, Georgia, witnessed the incident and decided to record it. She shared the video on TikTok, garnering more than 254,000 views. 

“I wasn’t expecting it to go viral. I only posted it because it was supposed to be funny. Me and my friend was like, ‘Yeah, let’s just make a TikTok out of it,’” Cook said.

The incident was a surprise to Cook and the others in the video. 

“Nothing ever happens at Axis. Ever since we’ve been here, it’s been peaches and cream. It’s nice here. We were all so confused and just standing there because it’s like, ‘What are we supposed to do?” she said.

On the same day, another pipe burst on the fifth floor. 

“howard always putting yall through something,” TikTok user @dmaridreher commented under Cook’s post.

Since the accident The Axis Management has installed additional fans and dehumidifiers in affected common areas and apartments.

Copy edited by Anijah Franklin  

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