News
By Anthony LaMesa
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September 26, 2003
Now a week since Hurricane Isabel unleashed her fury on Virginia, local and state officials are still working to assess what many are saying could be monumental cleanup costs from the storm.
According to Director of Facilities Operations Chris Willis, facilities management finance employees currently are adding up the cost of University cleanup efforts.
"Because it was a statewide emergency, we're going to track those charges and try and submit those to some federal or maybe state agencies that may be able to help with some of the cost," Willis said.
Willis also said the University might be able to pay for some of the damages to buildings around Grounds -- mainly flooding and roof leaks -- by seeking insurance reimbursements.
If the University is not able to fully recoup the costs of storm damage from outside sources, the funds will have to come from the facilities management general operating budget, which could affect other maintenance initiatives, he said.
"Whatever they don't reimburse us or give to us, then obviously we take it out of our operating costs and that's something else that can't be done," he said.
The most expensive aspect of the storm cleanup has been dealing with damaged trees, many of which need to be removed, Willis said.
The City of Charlottesville, which has been declared a federal disaster area, also still is evaluating the mounting costs of its recovery efforts, City Spokesperson Maurice Jones said.
"We are in the process of compiling those numbers and will be moving forward with that process in the coming days," Jones said.
Like the University, the City also is hoping to recover the majority of its cleanup expenses from state and federal authorities, he said.