Damage From Hurricanes Costs University $50,000

Damage to 150 University buildings in the two recent hurricanes came to "roughly $50,000," Edward Reynolds '15, administrative vice president, reported yesterday.

Cecil A. Roberts, superintendent of buildings and grounds, filed his analysis of storm damage at the University with Reynolds yesterday, after compiling the report in the two weeks since the end of Hurricane Edna.

Roberts did not break down the overall $50,000 figure. This figure does not include estimates of losses from 60 trees, which fell around and on University buildings during the two storms Edna and Carol.

Earlier, Reynolds' assistant Charles C. Pyne had estimated "in terms of dollars the most extensive damage will be suffered by the trees." This would bring overall losses to at least $100,000. But Roberts said yesterday he thought damage to trees would prove somewhat less than that to buildings.

Exact costs on much of the repair work will not be known until the roof work is done, Reynolds said. Damage to most of the 150 buildings is not expected to be more than several hundred dollars each, Roberts estimated. Valuation of tree losses will depend largely on who makes the personal assessment.

On other University property, at the Arnold Arboretum, Director Donald Wyman yesterday reported a loss of 300 trees, as compared with the 1500 lost in the 1938 hurricane. At the Harvard Forest in Petersham, there was little loss.

Principal buildings to suffer in the storms were Memorial Hall, Peabody Museum and Matthews Hall. Practically all damage was to roofs. Reynolds placed the total inside loss through leakage at "less than $1,000." The only ceilings that were damaged were in Matthews and Emerson Hall.

Temporary repairs on all buildings were made immediately, Roberts said, but he expects work on roofs to continue all fall and possibly into the winter. Outside contractors have been brought in to help with tree clearance and straightening. Roberts plans to have all stumps out of the ground by mid-October.

Partial planting and complete pruning will take place this fall, Roberts continued.