City and NIU begin to estimate flood costs

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City and NIU begin to estimate flood costs

Northern Star Online - DeKalb,IL*

By JESSICA SABBAH

http://www.star.niu.edu/article.php?id=157

A week after floods rocked the city of DeKalb, much cleanup has

occurred, but the damage is still evident.

Evaluating the damage

The majority of damage that was caused from the floods on Thursday,

Aug. 23, was to single-family homes and the Riverside Apartments at

807 W. St. Additional damage resulted in infrastructure

damage, water damage to streets and displaced manhole covers.

" Around 250 dwellings were affected just by the flood in the city of

DeKalb, " said Russ Farnum, DeKalb director of community development.

At this point the city does not have an estimate of how much it will

cost to repair all the damages that occurred, he said.

NIU was also hit hard from the storms, resulting in a loss of an

electrical substation that supplies the east side of campus with

electricity and power. Other damages include loss of carpeting and

equipment, with the Visual Arts Building being the most affected

building on campus.

NIU has already spent $200,000 after replacing the electrical

substation that was lost in the flood last week and estimates up to

an additional $50,000 in other campus repairs, said Bob Albanese,

associate vice-president of Finance and Facilities.

NIU is also in the process of evaluating exactly what happened and

seeing what the university can do to help the students whose cars

were damaged in the Convocation Center C3 parking lot, said Albanese.

All buildings that were affected by the flood have been dried out,

said Farnum and Albanese.

Continuing flood fallout

Other worries that have risen from the flood are mosquito abatement

and mold. A company that deals with mosquito abatement has already

been contacted and is set to spray next week, Farnum said.

When dealing with mold, the community development department has

provided help and advice to homeowners on how to clean up their

property properly but is not playing a proactive role in checking

mold in single-family homes. For additional information, handouts

are available in the Community Development Department.

At NIU, there is already a program in place regarding mold.

" When we become aware of mold issues, the university has a protocol

to act aggressively to mitigate the problem, " said Albanese.

Cleaning up the community

The Community Development's main concern is protecting the landlord

and tenant's relationship by making sure that the landlord properly

cleans everything before the tenants arrive back to their residences.

The city has already received the state disaster declaration and is

hoping that the governor's office files for federal assistance for

DeKalb help with the cleanup efforts.

The city is currently coordinating efforts right now and will let

the public know if any opportunities arise, Farnum said. They are

also working on getting rid of sandbags that were used for the

flood.

Tying up the loose ends

There were still some residents displaced from their homes Friday,

Aug. 31. While Community Development is aware of the tenants from

the Riverside Apartments, Farnum said there may be more because some

of the residents from the single-family homes may be staying with

friends or families.

Although many residents have been affected by the flood, all the

homeowners have been really patient and cooperative knowing that

they are doing the best that they can and can only take care of a

certain amount of residents at one time, Farnum said.

" During the flood and since the flood, we have really seen the

cooperative spirit of DeKalb, " Farnum also said.