The old cellar flooded every spring when the snowmelt seeped through the ceiling. Water crept down from above, filling the top row first, then the middle, then the floor. This year the plumber had fixed the ceiling, so when spring came the cellar stayed dry. But a pipe burst in the east wall that April, and water poured in from the right side instead — filling only the rightmost column while the rest of the cellar stayed bone-dry. By the time they shut the valve, the whole cellar had flooded from that one broken pipe.