When Beth Herke stepped into the kitchen of her apartment at 104 12th St. SW on April 11 to make some tea, she was surprised to find the vinyl kitchen floor covered in water.

The water soon seeped into the 75-year-old’s living room carpet, and before too long, her whole apartment developed a musty smell. Herke didn’t know it then, but she and her neighbors were about to spend the next 13 days without running water in their homes.