UGA ‘fortunate’ in extent of damage from storm
March 4, 2009 by HAYLEY PETERSON
Filed under News
Three of the 313 buildings on the University’s main campus sustained major damage from the weekend snowstorm, the assistant vice president for the Physical Plant said Tuesday.
“We were very fortunate that this was the extent of the damage related to snow,” Tom Satterly said in a phone interview.
Satterly said a section of the Miller Learning Center’s roof caved in, a water pipe at the Miller Plant Science Building froze and a power line was taken out by a fallen tree near Family Housing since the storm Sunday.
“The majority of damage was fallen trees, mostly tree limbs – though we had several large trees that came down,” he said.
“I talked with a lot of the folks who have been here 15 to 20 years and we are very fortunate this didn’t cause very much damage. They remember a snow storm in the ’90s and there was a lot more damage with more wind and ice – and more trees and electrical lines that came down with the added weight. The snow is much lighter.”
Snow may be lighter, but still several inches were too heavy for the roof over the MLC.
Satterly said a section of the lower level roof broke under the weight of the snow, causing a leak early Monday morning. The Physical Plant secured the leak and blocked off other areas of the MLC – including three classrooms – in preparation for possible damage to one of the three other similarly constructed roofs over the lower level.
He said the water pipe that froze and ruptured in the Science Building also caused leakage, but the Physical Plant was able to clean the water and fix the pipe by Monday.
Satterly said he couldn’t yet estimate the cost of the damage around campus from the storm.
“We haven’t put all the time in yet,” he said. “We have folks still out there cutting up trees and working at the MLC until morning.”
Meanwhile, off campus, a fire in the University Garden Apartments caused much more damage to student apartments than fallen trees or leaks.
A fire consumed four apartments and damaged up to a dozen more Tuesday morning at the complex, located only two miles from campus on 198 Baxter Drive. The fire began Tuesday before 6 a.m., according to ACC Fire Battalion Chief Andy Dawson.
“Two investigators came out [to the apartments],” Dawson said in a phone interview Tuesday. “They are investigating it. It’s not suspicious.”
He said he wasn’t sure how many University students were affected by the fire.
“There were some University students retrieving their belongings when we were there,” he said.
Dawson said fire management and the American Red Cross were helping victims find other places to live. There were no injuries reported, excluding one fatality.
“The only fatality was a pit bull puppy that was in a cage and not able to escape,” he said.
