Cleanup continues at CCU after Hurricane Matthew
As Hurricane Matthew blew through the Coastal Carolina University campus on Oct. 8 and 9, it turned the ground into a sodden swamp, then its 75 mph winds downed trees and took parts of buildings and roof shingles, leaving the University’s Office of Facilities and Management a fine mess to clean up.
Seventy-five trees on campus were damaged or downed during the storm, and roofs were damaged, which led to leaks and wet floors. There was no major structural damage.
Rein Mungo, interim director of facilities and management, had 79 facilities management staff working on storm tasks during the week campus was closed. Prior to the storm, staff worked to secure the University; afterwards the focus was on damage assessment and cleanup.
“We had staff here each day from Wednesday [Oct. 5] on to monitor and repair different items so the ITS connections could operate,” said Mungo. “We lost electrical service to the campus Saturday, but campus generators were operational during that time. On Sunday when we got to campus, the project managers conducted our natural disaster building review assignments through the primary buildings to determine if there was any damage.
“The only structural damage by falling trees was a handrail at the Atheneum Hall. One tree hit the fan shroud on the cooling tower at the Central Cooling Plant, and over in the KK Lot (at Lackey Chapel) we had some broken curb and gutter. We had to change ceiling tiles in at least 15 buildings.
“The most visible roof damage was on Brittain Hall, Baxley Hall, HTC Center, Atheneum Hall, Wheelwright Auditorium and the Wall Building. We had some minor slate and shingle damage throughout campus and at the residence life buildings as well.
“Sunday morning [Oct. 9] we began the cleanup process to remove the huge trees that were on University Boulevard by Kearns Hall so that traffic could flow,” said Mungo.
Electricity was restored Sunday evening to one section of the campus and by Monday morning to the last remaining section.
For the rest of the week, the grounds crew continued to clean up the debris and made sure everything was as safe as possible and then met with the executive staff to determine when campus was to reopen and classes to resume.
“We still have areas to be cleaned up and will continue the efforts over the next several weeks,” said Mungo. “A huge thanks goes to the Department of Public Safety for keeping us up to date on what was happening on campus during the storm so we could be prepared on how to begin our cleanup process.”
“The staffs in mechanical maintenance, repairs and renovations, moving crew and custodial all pitched in to help the grounds staff remove the debris that posed a life and safety issue,” said Mungo. “We are still working now to get things back into order now each and every day. We have trees and limbs in some areas that aren’t traveled so we will continue to work on this. My best guess right now is to have everything cleaned up by Thanksgiving.”
