Wednesday 2nd June - The Flood

by Chantelle Francois

Yesterday was full of excitement. It was the day when we felt like this project was real for the first time. But today blew all of that out of the water...quite literally.

Entering the building at 10am, it was just like a normal day. But that was soon to change as I walked into the offices. The view which greeted me was like a scene from Titanic. Water was gushing through the ceiling and I stepped in a pool of water which was quickly building into a stream. As I opened the door of my office, I was once again shocked by the site. There was water everywhere, yet no one seemed to be doing anything about it. Maybe the boss knows what’s going on.....I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Walking into Matthew and Jenny’s office, I am welcomed by Matthew asking: “What the bloody hell is that noise?”

My response: “There’s a flood out here!”

He quickly made a frantic call to Jim, the man who knows all about the site, as I sat in the one office which had not been affected by the biblical flood. (Ok, maybe I’m exaggerating a little bit there, but it really was bad.) It was actually quite funny. After all, it is not every day you walk into the set of the Titanic movie. What added to the drama of the day’s events was being underground where there are no windows. It gave the situation a larger feeling of impending doom.

Never before have I heard so many water jokes while at work. Everything from, ‘let’s jump ship’ to ‘where’s your canoe?’ The funniest thing I heard all day though came from a fellow production assistant, Tabitha, when she frantically said: “I can’t go up there. I’m wearing suede shoes!” Another sentence I never thought I would hear at the office.

The reason for all the drama was a contractor setting off a sprinkler by hitting it with some heavy machinery, sending gallons of water crashing down. Even after the sprinklers were switched off, the water continued to pour for almost two hours. It only got worse as the rehearsal room was next to see the rain.

All I could think was...this is going to smell tomorrow! What a crazy day. But never mind. It’s all in a day’s work at Waterloo Station!