The basement of the old hotel leaked from the roof every spring. Rainwater seeped down through the joists, flooding the top row of tiles first, then spreading to each row below as the water table rose. By April the whole floor was underwater. But this year the roofer had done his job — the ceiling was sealed. Instead, the water main along the east wall cracked, and water poured in from the right side only. The rightmost column flooded while the rest of the basement was dry for the first time in decades. Eventually the whole floor was soaked again, but from a different source.