Hurricane by the Numbers

Hurricane Irene left behind debris and power outages at the University of Richmond, along with a bill estimated at $13,200 to $13,400.

The current estimate included costs for supplying students with non-perishable food, removing trees, sweeping roads on campus and running a generator system in the dormitories that had no power.

"It is still too early to give any accurate cost assessments because many contractors haven't even billed the university yet," Police Chief David McCoy said. "We didn't have a significant amount of damage, so the costs are well within the capabilities of the university to handle."

University dining services began preparing for the storm last Thursday. It spent $6,000 on non-perishable food items for 1,800 students, said Bettie Clarke, executive director, campus dining. She said that the Heilman Dining Center staff had supplied food to 1,500 students on Saturday before the facility closed at 2 p.m.

The Emergency Management Team made the decision to close the dining hall in addition to four other facilities on campus: Boatwright Memorial Library, the Weinstein Center for Recreation and Wellness, Tyler Haynes Commons and the Robins Center, McCoy said.

"I think it was a wonderful decision to close early because it really gave everyone the chance to be safe," Clarke said. "It gave employees a chance to get home safely and it kept our students in their residence halls so that they wouldn't have to try to go out to get a meal. Our number one priority is to take care of the students and to make sure that they are taken care of properly."

University staff members who remained on campus despite the storm on Saturday included two electricians and a crew of six people, said Steve Glass, the horticulturist and landscape manager on-site during the hurricane.

The 60 mph wind gusts caused 13 trees on campus to fall, as well as 20 trees in the surrounding residential area, Glass said.

Glass said the university had hired outside contractors to remove and grind large tree remains, which had cost an estimated $6,000 for four days of service between two companies. The university also spent $600 for the roads to be swept on Sunday afternoon by an outside service, Glass said.

"The damages were worse than I expected," Glass said. "We have done this quite a few times before, but there was a lot to clean up. We have 14 landscaping staff members a day still working to haul away debris."

The fallen trees closed four roads on campus including Crenshaw Way, Campus Drive, College Road and Boatwright Drive, which was still closed on Tuesday afternoon, McCoy said. He said the complication on Boatwright Drive involved power lines intermingled with the debris that had to be addressed by the city of Richmond and the power companies.

The power outages occurred in three dormitories: Atlantic House, Pacific House and Law Dorm Three, said George Souleret, university engineer. He said a generator system supported emergency lights and the card security system in the Pacific House and Law Dorm Three for 40 hours. The use of the generator system cost the university $15 to $20 each hour, for a total of $600 to $800, Souleret said.

The rest of campus had sporadic power surges, but maintained power because several years ago the university connected the campus power line to the one used by the Richmond hospitals, McCoy said.

The fallen trees also damaged a line of four vehicles owned by students in K-Lot, McCoy said. He said three of the four cars were unable to be driven because of crushed roofs and dislodged back windows. McCoy estimated that the cost to fix each vehicle would be several thousand dollars.

McCoy said he had planned for six extra officers to remain on campus during the storm, but he could not yet estimate the extra cost for overtime hours.

"I was very pleased with the student's response and their conduct," McCoy said. "It's a long day to stay for 12 to 14 hours in the dorm, so they were out adventuring and playing on the intramural fields. We checked on them to make sure everyone was okay."

Junior Igor Martic said it was natural for him to want to roam around town during the storm with his four-wheel-drive Jeep Wrangler.

"How often do I get a chance to ride through a hurricane with friends, right?" Martic said.

While exploring, Martic said he witnessed a car fire caused by a fallen power line directly behind the Lambda Chi Alpha lodge. He said the car was not affiliated with anyone at the university and that no one was injured.

"I think overall everything went smoothly and thankfully no one was injured," McCoy said. "It all kind of fell into place. The timeline of closing was accurate and the clean up was impressive. Everyone had been through this before."

Contact staff writer Erin Moyer at erin.moyer@richmond.edu.