After The Storm
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(Monday) August 9, 2010
By James Cullum
alexandrianews.org
City employee Greg Ross cutting tree limbs with a chainsaw after the storm. (Photo: James Cullum)
Four days after a rainstorm with 70 mile-per-hour winds crippled Alexandria’s streets with downed tree limbs, power lines and debris, the streets are now all open. Crews of City workers, many working overtime, will pick up tree debris from curbs and public rights-of-way over the next week. How much will the City’s latest mini-disaster cost?
“Most of our costs will be for personnel compensation overtime. We’ve rented some equipment and crews from outside the City for cleanup,” said Bruce Johnson, the City’s chief financial officer. “My guess is that this will be in the magnitude of what the December snowstorm was, which was around $840,000. We still have a lot of things to do in terms of picking up debris, but at least we have the streets open. ”
Since the Thursday evening storm, the City has temporarily relaxed some normal requirements for removal of tree debris on private property. “Currently, crews on more than 40 trucks are continuing to remove debris from City streets, particularly in the Beverley Hills, Timber Branch, Del Ray, and Crestwood areas. Residents are asked to remain patient as the storm-related cleanup work continues. Because of the magnitude of the storm damage, particularly in the City’s hardest-hit areas, some debris collections may be delayed or missed. To report a missed collection, call the Solid Waste Division at (703) 746-4410,” according to an Aug. 9 City news release.
The storm lasted less than thirty minutes. “The first order of business is to get the City back on its feet, and we’ll have to spend what it takes to put the City back up on it’s feet and we’ll count it up later,” Johnson said. “It does raise the larger issue of how to set aside money in every operating budget for what is becoming a more natural occurrence.”
In February, two snowstorms dumped 40 inches of snow on the region. It took weeks to clear snow from streets and cost the City $6.8 million and the school system $1.4 million. “The Blizzard of 2010” came on the tails of a December 2009, storm that broke records with 17 inches of snowfall.
“We hope to get 75% federal reimbursement for the snowstorm, but we are not assuming we will get a FEMA [U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency] reimbursement this time,” Johnson said. “We do have $1.3 million in savings, which is a surplus from money that [City] Council ended up with when Metro passed its budget. We budgeted about $6-7 million and were $1.6 million above the mark and had to guess what our allocation to them would be… When Council comes back in September, [staff] will probably brief them and talk to them about applying that money to the costs of the thunderstorm. “
Mayor Bill Euille toured the City for hours after the storm. “Staff has been keeping me posted as to the progress. We had crews working all night and Dominion Power had all of their resources working 24/7,” he said. “There has been tremendous improvement over a very short period. We’re getting emails and calls all around the City on the positive response and efficiency of City staff. People realize that this is not the kind of storm that we are used to. While there might be 500 people still without power, at its peak, there were about 30,000 people without power.”