Flood Damage at Univ. of Hawaii’s Manoa Campus

December 7, 2004

U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye toured the University of Hawaii-Manoa campus recently, and came away saying flood damage would top $50 million.

The veteran Democrat visited the campus in preparation for asking for federal assistance to help cover the cost of the flooding caused by heavy rains Oct. 30.

University interim President David McClain has said damage could exceed the state’s $25 million insurance ceiling, and additional money might be needed from the state Legislature. He also has said the cleanup will take longer and cost more than originally expected.

“I told the university president, Dr. McClain, that they shouldn’t be shy about it. If the damage is $100 million, say so,” Inouye told reporters.

McClain agreed with Inouye.

“We will not be shy about estimating our damages,” McClain said. “And we’re certainly going to count everything that was damaged – buildings, contents, work loss.”

About $1 million in emergency relief funds to assist scholars and researchers during the flood recovery already has been distributed.

Receiving funds were 36 principal investigators and their faculty collaborators in the College of Natural Sciences, John A. Burns School of Medicine, College of Arts and Humanities, Library Services, and College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources.

The four most heavily damaged buildings in the Oct. 30 flooding were Hamilton Library, and the Biomedical Science and Agricultural Sciences buildings and Sherman Laboratory.

The flooding resulted from heavy rains that caused Manoa Stream to overflow its banks. It caused students to miss two days of classes.

Friday was the deadline for insurance claims to be filed.

Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Flood Education Agribusiness Universities Hawaii

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