Flooding Proves Costly at the University of Wisconsin-Superior
Friday, June 22, 2012 - 10:13pm
By:
Andrew Lovelette
FOX 21 News, KQDS-DT
SUPERIOR - The city of Superior is adding up flood damage in the millions of dollars.
One of the hardest hit areas is the University of Wisconsin-Superior where nearly every building is suffering water damage.
It all started Tuesday night, when school officials received a phone call from facilities reporting water in many campus buildings.
Early damage estimates were between $3 and $5 million. But with a closer look that's now turned into more like $15 million.
Old Main had at least six inches of rain.
Barstow Hall had a flooded mechanical room, but the most damage occurred at the library with water nearly reaching the ceiling.
"It was coming in at such a rate that it really looked like a small river coming through the electrical door and we knew that one was going to get hit probably the hardest and you get this very helpless feeling. There's nothing you can do to stop it," said Renee Wachter, Chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Superior.
Chancellor Wachter says more than 200,000 books were damaged in the flooding.
They are currently in the process of seeing what they can and can't salvage.
It will be a close call to see if they can even get the library ready for classes this fall.