Many Pemberton Hall residents woke up to knocks on their doors instead of the ringing of their alarm clocks as Pemberton’s electricity was out for nearly 10 hours through Sunday night and early Monday morning.

Pemberton’s staff walked up and down the hall’s four floors to wake residents for their first day of school. Many residents fell asleep before the power was restored at about 1:45 a.m. Monday. The electricity in the North Quad, which includes Old Main, Blair Hall and Pemberton, went out at about 3:30 p.m. Sunday, said Mark Hudson, director of housing and dining.

Moisture entered the junction box that operates the three buildings’ power, causing the electricity to fail, Hudson said. Soon after it was confirmed that the electricity was out, five of Eastern’s electricians worked to get the power up and running.

“The nature of electrical and mechanical things is that sometimes they fail,” Hudson said. “They had to take the whole thing out, dry the parts and put everything back together.”

Hudson said it took the electricians a substantial amount of time to fix the problem because the North Quad’s electrical system is so large and intricate.

“We have a team of very talented technicians, but when you’re dealing with this kind of electrical system, you have to work very diligently and pay attention to detail,” Hudson said.

Along with the alarm clock issue, many of Pemberton’s residents were concerned about the food in their refrigerators spoiling. Hudson met with some of Pemberton’s residents during a rules and regulations meeting Sunday night and assured them their perishable food items could last up to 12 hours if they hadn’t opened their refrigerator.

“I’m very confident what (the electricians) took care of last night won’t occur again,” Hudson said.