Anyone who has experienced phantom flushing or an overflowing toilet tank knows the value of a good flapper. Now the staff of the Celia Dill Dialysis Center in Carmel, New York, do too, after the ceiling above fourteen patients' heads in the treatment room began to collapse and water began to flood down during a session last Wednesday.

"Madhouse, it was a madhouse!" said Antoinette DeCicco, one dialysis patient. The cause of the collapse and the flood was confirmed by Fire Chief Daryl Johnson: a clogged toilet with the faulty flapper on the floor above.

That thin bit of plastic caused more than a little mess, as you can see in this WCBS video clip. Patients had to be rushed from the room and expensive equipment had to be wrapped in plastic. Still, according to Fire Chief Daryl Johnson, "some water got into the electrical system, forcing power to be shut off." Some patients had to be moved to Peekskill-Cortlandt Dialysis Center, sixteen miles away, for treatment. Happily, the Carmel center was reopened the following day.

This story illustrates human nature at its best. The firefighters, nurses, and hospital administrators all worked together efficiently to get the patients out of the flooded building and arrange their transfer to the Peekskill Center. The maintenance department must have worked around the clock to get the dialysis room back in a fit state to receive patients by the next day. And the best example of calm in this storm, though, comes from the patients themselves. "Oh, what can you do? That's my life," said Ms. DeCicco. "When you're in dialysis, it's always disruptive. That's the way it is."

Added Lyda Rojas, "I'm not annoyed, because I have to have dialysis. I can't miss it."

It could have been a lot worse. I dread to think of the consequences if a waste-filled pipe had burst. And I bet that from now on, maintenance people all over Carmel will be checking the condition of their toilet flappers more regularly. Maybe you, PoopReporter, should too.